Honesty is the best policy
by ObsessedwReading
Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Percy Jackson & The Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus Books along with the Demigod Files and The Demigod diaries. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.
1. Chapter 1

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 1

Books fall from the Sky

Author's notes: I don't own anything except for the idea.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Heroes of Olympus Books. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

It was a normal day for the Demigods and Satyr. The seven were on their way to defeat Gaea and Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge were on their way to deliver the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood. And to stop Octavian and prevent the war from happening between the two camps.

Percy approached Jason. "Did I do something to offend Nico?"

"No," Jason shook his head, "Why would you think that?"

"It's just...When I talked to him before he left he seemed to be cold and…distant. Do you know anything about that?"

"Nope."

"You're lying." The son of Poseidon accused. "Piper, Leo and Hazel have said that you and Nico have been acting different ever since the both of you went to retrieve the scepter to get Annabeth and I out of… you know." _Tartarus._

"Look it's none of your business." Jupiter's son snapped, "Nico is fine." Jason began to walk away. Percy trailed behind him.

"What did I do to make him mad?"

"Nothing."

"Then why was he acting cold?!"

"Look, just drop it okay?!"

"Okay both of you just calm down!" Annabeth ordered. The two boys were having a glaring contest.

"What's going on?" Frank asked appearing with Hazel at his side.

"I don't know." Annabeth admitted, "I came up here and found Jason and Percy about to kill each other."

"What's the matter with you two?" Hazel demanded.

"Nothing." Jason said quickly, shooting Percy another glare. "Nothing at all." He turned and walked away.

"I'll try to talk to him." Piper offered. "Find out what's happening."

"That would be good." Annabeth gave her a tentative smile. Piper left in search of her boyfriend.

"So…" Leo said.

Piper caught up to Jason and took his hand. "What's the matter Jason? What's going on?"

Jason sighed. Nico had asked him not to tell anyone about what had happened in Croatia. He wasn't going to betray the Son of Hades' trust by telling everyone what had happened. "Percy and I had a disagreement, that's all."

"It seemed like more than a disagreement." Piper said, "You two looked about ready to kill each other."

"Look I promised someone that I wouldn't say anything, and I'm going to keep that promise." And with that statement The Son of Jupiter walked away, leaving Piper to ponder what Jason had meant.

Reyna and Nico had arrived at their first stop via shadow traveling. Nico looked absolutely exhausted.

"I'll take the first watch." Reyna informed them.

Nico nodded and proceeded to lay down and try to catch some sleep. Coach Hedge went off to do who knows what and Reyna was left to keep an eye on the sleeping Son of Hades and the Athena Parthenos.

It was early the next morning when it happened. Everything was going smoothly and then all of a sudden time froze. The birds froze in flight, the water stopped moving, and everything except for themselves had frozen. Even the Satyr, Coach Hedge was frozen in time with an enchilada in his hand about to take a bite of it.

Then the strangest thing happened they were blinded by a bright flash of light and they disappeared. When the light faded they found themselves aboard the Argo II with the Seven Heroes of Olympus staring at them.

"What just happened?" Nico turned to Reyna and asked.

"I have no clue." She responded.

After a few moments of silence Percy spoke. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Yeah, you're supposed to be with Coach Hedge taking the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood to stop the war between the Camps." Annabeth added.

"That's what we'd like to know." Reyna responded.

"Nico, Coach Hedge and I were eating and then all of a sudden… time just completely stopped." Reyna explained, "Coach Hedge completely froze but Nico and I didn't."

Jason's brow furrowed in thought. "You know the same thing happened to me before my first quest." He began to explain his frozen in time experience with Hera/Juno speaking to him.

"Do you think she's behind all of this?" Piper asked gesturing all around them to the frozen in time sequence that seemed to be happening all around them.

"It's possible." Jason replied. When he finished speaking a pile of books fell from out of nowhere and landed at their feet.

Hazel, and Frank picked up the books. Hazel began to read off the titles. "Percy Jackson and The Olympians: Book 1: The Lightning Thief, Book 2: The Sea of Monsters, Book 3: The Titans Curse, Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth, and Book 5: The Last Olympian."

Frank looked at the books in his hands and read the titles aloud. "The Heroes of Olympus: Book 1: The Lost Hero, Book 2: The Son of Neptune, Book 3: The Mark of Athena and Book 4: The House of Hades."

Leo then reached out to catch a piece of paper that floated down from the air. He began to read aloud to the other Demigods. "Dear the seven, plus Reyna and Nico, I have decided that in order for my plan to succeed you must be able to trust each other. And for that to be possible you must have no secrets between any of you. So I have sent these books for all of you to read and learn about your fellow demigods and friends. Time will be frozen during the time spent reading these books. –Hera/Juno."

The Demigods looked at one another. "Should we read the books?" Frank asked.

"I don't think it would be wise to ignore Lady Juno…Hera's wishes." Reyna began, "I think that we should read these books and maybe then we'll all be able to trust each other, without having any doubts."

Annabeth nodded in agreement. "If this may somehow help us defeat Gaea and trust each other, I have no problem reading the books." Annabeth looked to the others for their answers. "What about the rest of you?" The other demigods nodded and mumbled their agreements.

"All right then," Leo clapped his hands in anticipation. "Let's get started, who's going to read first?"

They all looked at each other. "I guess I will." Annabeth stepped up. She grabbed the book and began to read. "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 1: The Lightning thief."

**Chapter 1: I accidentally vaporize my Pre-algebra teacher**

"Oh great." Percy groaned putting his head in his hands, "This is in my Point of view isn't it?" Annabeth nodded. "Great, just great." The daughter of Athena began to read again.

* * *

Author's notes: I don't know if I'm breaking the rules by writing this. I really sincerely hope that I'm not. If I am then I apologize profusely! Don't kill me creators of ! Please! :(


	2. Chapter 2

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 2

The Beginning of a long reading session

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Heroes of Olympus Books. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 1 : I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-algebra Teacher**

**Look, I didn't want to be a Half-Blood.**

"None of us ever do." Leo muttered.

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, My advice is**:

"Oh no!" Annabeth said in mock horror. "Percy's giving advice!"

"Hey!" The son of Poseidon protested.

The other Demigods laughed at their friends expense.

**Close this book right now.**

"Okay!" Leo said cheerfully he went to take the book from Annabeth and close it. The look she gave him, stopped him. Her glare said 'Don't you even think about it.' Leo quickly returned to his seat and began to tinker with some bits of celestial bronze he had in his tool belt.

**Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to live a normal life.**

"That's actually pretty good advice." Frank said.

"It might work." Annabeth mused, "If you're a child of a minor god or goddess."

**Being a Half book is dangerous.**

"No kidding." Jason snorted.

**It's scary.**

"Definitely." Piper shivered remembering her first quest with Jason and Leo. Jason put his arm around her comfortingly.

**Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

"Yeah." Nico said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Percy who knew who he was thinking of felt guilty. _I should have been able to save her. _"I'm sorry Nico."

Nico shook his head, "It's not your fault Percy. She made her choice. You did everything you possibly could to keep her safe." The other demigods looked confused by the exchange.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened. **

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately.**

"Okay, you heard the man." Leo said. "Let's stop reading. How about some lunch guys?"

They all gave him weird looks before Annabeth began to read again.

_'Well it was worth a try.' _Leo thought.

**You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter if time before _they _sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

"But you didn't-" Leo was cut of by Annabeth glaring at him.

"Can I at least get though one page in this book without interruptions?!" She demanded.

"Sorry." Leo mumbled going back to his tinkering.

**My name is Percy Jackson. **

"No it's not." Leo said. "It's Annabeth Chase."

Annabeth glared at him. Leo raised his hands in a surrendering sign and fell silent. The daughter of Athena closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.

**I'm twelve years old. **

She shot Leo a quick glare daring him to interrupt her again. He wisely decided to keep silent.

**Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York. **

**Am I a trouble kid?**

**Yeah. You could say that.**

The demigods laughed.

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan-twenty eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff. **

"That sounds cool." Jason commented.

**I know-it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.**

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes. **

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think that he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

**I hoped the trop would be okay. At least I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble. **

**Boy, was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyways. **

The other demigods laughed. After everyone had calmed down, the daughter of Athena began to read again.

**And before that, at my fourth-grade school, we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our whole class took an unplanned swim.**

All nine Demigods, Annabeth included burst into fits of laughter.

Percy laughed, "Now that I think of it. It was pretty funny."

**And the time before that... Well, you get the idea. **

No, please continue!" Leo pleaded, "I haven't laughed like this in a long time!"

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

"Good luck with that." Reyna mumbled.

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded, kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"What?!" Annabeth reread the line and became even more enraged. "Where is that girl? I'm going to find her and kill her!" Percy grabbed Annabeth and pulled her back next to him. He whispered something and she seemed to calm down if only just a little bit. She grabbed the book and began to read once again.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must have been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should have seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria. **

A few more laughs came from the demigods.

"Hey Percy, how come you don't ever talk about Grover, ever?" Hazel wondered.

"I uh- well, I've been kind of busy guys!"

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew that I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death**

"What?!"

"The sentence isn't over yet Annabeth." Percy pointed out gently.

"Oh."

**by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip. **

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

The four girls gritted their teeth.

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

**"You're already on probation," He reminded me, "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." **

**Looking back on it, I wish I decked Nancy Bobofit right there and then. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into. **

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery. **

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years. **

"Probably a lot longer than that." Hazel commented.

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big Sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a _stele_, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen because it was kind of interesting, but everyone around me was talking, and every time that I told them to shut up, the other chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give my the evil eye.**

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school-detention for a month. **

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

"Oh Grover," Annabeth sighed fondly thinking of her satyr friend.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art. **

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you _shut up?_"**

**It came out louder than I meant it too.**

"Of course it did." Piper sighed in exasperation.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir." **

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.****"Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I felt a flush of relief because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."**

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

The other demigods raised their eyebrows at this statement.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And... he didn't trust he kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "And the gods won."**

Leo clapped his hands and then pulled a microphone out of his tool belt. "Ladies and Gentlemen, The only demigod in history that had ever been able to sum up the first Titan war in only one paragraph, Percy Jackson."

The girls(Piper and Hazel) let out a few giggles at Leos' antics.

Reyna and Annabeth just rolled their eyes.

**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications. 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?" **

"Busted." Frank smiled.

**"Busted." Grover muttered.**

Frank frowned as Leo began laughing.

"You think like a satyr. I guess that makes sense seeing as you're a shape shifter."

Hazel gave him a disapproving stare.

'What?' he mouthed.

She just shook her head and turned her attention back to Annabeth.

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. **

**I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."**

**"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine. which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"**

"Happy note?" Nico said incredulously.

**The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. **

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew that was coming. **

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?" **

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and seen everything,**

**"You must learn the answer to my question." Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

**"What you learn from me," he said, "Is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."**

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.**

"It's for your own good." Annabeth said.

"I know that now."

**I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

"What?" Annabeth said in astonishment. "Not even I could do that!"

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No- he didn't expect me to be_ as good; _ he expected me to be _better. _And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly. **

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"He may have very well been." Piper said.

Reyna gave her a curious look. Piper just waved her off. Reyna huffed and crossed her arms; looking away from the daughter of Aphrodite.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch. **

**The class gathered in the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth avenue. **

**Overhead, a huge snowstorm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. **

"What's got Zeus so upset?" Jason asked them, curious as to why his father (well his Greek counterpart) was acting this way.

"You'll find out." Percy told them all.

** I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. **

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing. **

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that if maybe we did that, everybody wouldn't know that we were from _that _school- the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere. **

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean- I'm not a genius." **

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep Philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

The Demigods burst into fits of laughter again.

**I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it. **

**I watched the stream of cabs going down fifth avenue, and I thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so badly to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she's be disappointed too. She'd send me back to Yancy , remind me that I had to try harder, even if it was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to get kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.**

"AW!" The four girls cooed making Percy blush furiously. The other four guys just smirked at Percy's obvious discomfort at them reading his thoughts.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of the chair, making it look like a motorized café table. **

"Dude, that's awesome!" Leo exclaimed. He pulled a notebook out of the tool belt and began writing down ideas to make a similar chair.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends- I guess she's gotten tired of stealing from the tourists- and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap. **

Annabeth looked furious at this. But she managed to calm herself down enough to keep reading.

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

"How...attractive." Piper remarked drily.

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

"Did not." Percy mumbled.

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us. **

"Never a good sign." Reyna said.

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

**"-the water-"**

**"-like it grabbed her-"**

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again. **

"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said affectionately. Percy gave her a grin. She just smiled and shook her head before reading again.

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy**

"Poor little Nancy?" Frank said incredulously.

**was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

**That wasn't the right thing to say. **

"No really?" Nico said rolling his eyes.

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. _I _pushed her,"**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so Mr. Underwood." She said.**

**"But-"**

**"You-_will_-stay-here." **

**Grover looked at me desperately. **

**"It's okay, man." I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "_Now."_**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.**

**How'd she get there so fast?**

"Also not a good sign." Reyna commented.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me that this was part of the ADHD. my brain misinterpreting things.**

"It's not." No one could tell who said it.

**I wasn't so sure.**

**I went after Mrs. Dodds,**

**Halfway up the stairs, I glanced at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall. **

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

**But apparently that wasn't the plan.**

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

"And yet another bad sign." Reyna sighed.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling. **

"That's a very bad sign-"

"We get it already." Piper snapped. "There's a lot of very bad signs in this chapter."

Reyna's eyes narrowed. She looked as if she wanted to punch the daughter of Aphrodite, but she remained composed.

The rest of the Demigods stared at the two of them. Reyna gestured for Annabeth to continue and composed herself.

**Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," She said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

"Percy did the safe thing?" Leo said surprised.

Percy just gave him a glare. Leo just went back to working on his plans for the motorized wheelchair café table.

**She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me. **

**I said, "I'll- I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

**"We are not fools Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."**

**I didn't know what she was talking about. **

**All I could think of was that the teachers must've found my illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on _Tom Sawyer_ from the internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

**"Well?" She demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."  
**

**"Your time is up," She hissed. **

**Then the weirdest thing happened, Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons. **

**Then things got even stranger.**

"How could they possible get any stranger?" Frank wondered.

"You'll see." Percy said mysteriously.

**Mr.. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

"What's a pen going to do?" Piper said.

"You'll see." Percy replied.

"Wait is that Riptide?" Hazel asked.

"Yep."

The others looked confused.

"Riptide is my sword." Percy replied. He took the pen out of his pocket to show them.

"Oh." Piper replied.

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me. **

**With a yelp, I dodged and felt talon slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand it wasn't a pen anymore. It was Mr. Brunner's bronze sword that he used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes. **

**My knees were like Jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped my sword.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!" **

"She's still calling you that?" Leo asked.

"Yep."

**And she flew straight at me. **

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.**

"That comes naturally to you?" Jason replied.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. ****_Hisss! _**

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

**I was alone. **

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me. **

**My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"No, unfortunately." Nico said.

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain. **

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, with a museum map over tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."**

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our _teacher. _Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about. **

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

**"Not funny, man." I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

"Dad's really upset about something huh?" Jason said.

"Yep." Percy said simply.

**I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he had never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." **

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it. **

**"Sir," I said, "Where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

**"The other Chaperone. Mrs. Dodds, The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

"Done." Annabeth Announced.

"Wow!" Leo said, "Were finished with the whole book all ready? That was short."

Piper smacked him upside the head.

Leo grumbled at Piper before falling silent.

"Who wants to read next?" Annabeth asked.

Frank stepped forward. "I guess I will."

**Chapter 2 Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks Of Death**

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Let me know if there are any typos or mistakes and I'll gladly fix them.


	3. Chapter 3

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 3

Reading and even more reading

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Heroes of Olympus Books. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks Of Death**

Frank took a breath before continuing to read.

**I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me, The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr- a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip- had been out pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.**

**Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho. **

"You are Psycho." Leo interjected.

"Look, who's talking Mr. I-fired-upon-New-Rome." Percy countered.

"I wasn't in control of myself! That was Gaea alright?" Leo spat angrily.

"Both of you stop this arguing." Annabeth said. "The faster we get through these books the faster we can get back to defeating Gaea."

Frank picked up where he left off on the book.

**It got so that I almost believed them- Mrs. Dodds had never existed.**

**Almost. **

"It was Grover wasn't it." Piper said.

Percy nodded in response.

**But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying. **

**Something was going on. Something _had _happened at the museum. **

**I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.**

**The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.**

**I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from D's to F's. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.**

**Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.**

"It means old drunkard." Annabeth interjected.

**The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following Week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.**

**Fine, I told myself. Just fine.**

**I was homesick.**

**I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side,**

"Aw!" The girls cooed again, once more embarrassing the Son of Poseidon.

** even if I had to go to Public School and put up with my Obnoxious stepfather and his stupid Poker parties.**

**And yet...there was things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I wondered how he'd survive next year without me.**

**I'd miss Latin class, too- Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.**

**As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me, I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.**

**The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the _Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology_ across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. **

"I know the difference now." Percy told them.

**And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.**

**I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.**

**I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. _I will only accept the best from you, Percy Jackson._**

**I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.**

**I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried. **

"Aw!" The girls once again cooed, which made Percy blush.

**I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor. **

**I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."**

**I froze.**

**I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.**

**I inched closer.**

**"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean a kindly one in the _school! _Now that we know for sure, and _they _know it too-"**

**"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."**

**"But he may not have time. The Summer Solstice deadline-"**

**"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover, LEt him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."**

**"Sir, he _saw _her..."**

**"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."**

**"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."**

**"You haven't failed, Grover." Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"**

"I don't think Percy will react well to hearing that." Leo remarked.

"No kidding." Nico scoffed.

**The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.**

**Mr. Brunner went silent. **

**My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.**

**A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.**

**I opened the nearest door and slipped inside. **

**A few seconds later I heard the _clop-clop-clop, _muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.**

**A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.**

**Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," He murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."**

**"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..."**

**"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."**

**"Don't remind me." **

**The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office. **

**I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. **

"How long did you really stay there for?" Annabeth asked.

"A couple of minutes." Percy replied.

**Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm. **

**Grover was lying there on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.**

**"Hey," he said bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"**

**I didn't answer.**

**"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"**

**"Just ... tired." **

**I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.**

**I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.**

**But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.**

**The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.**

**For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.**

**"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's...It's for the best."**

**His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.**

Annabeth ground her teeth. "I'm going to find and kill this girl."

"Do you think she maybe had a crush on you?" Piper spoke up.

"What?" Percy said baffled.

"Usually when a girl bullies or picks on you they like you." Piper explained.

"If that's true then I guess Clarisse had a crush on me too." Percy said.

Everyone laughed.

**I mumbled "Okay, sir."**

**"I mean..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."**

"Ouch." Jason said sympathetically.

Percy gave him a small smile in thanks.

**My eyes stung.**

**Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me that I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.**

**"Right," I said, trembling.**

**"No, no," Mr. Brunner said, "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say . . . you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"**

**"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."**

**"Percy-"**

**But I was already gone. **

The other demigods all gave him sympathetic looks.

**On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. **

**The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trop to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. The were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were _rich _juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody from a family of nobodies. **

"I don't think that the Gods would be happy about being called nobodies." Piper said.

**They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. **

**What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.**

**"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."**

**They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.**

**The only person I dreaded saying goodbye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.**

**During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was no one to tease him on the Greyhound. **

**Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.**

**I said, "Looking for the Kindly Ones?"**

"I bet that freaked him out." Hazel said.

**Grover nearly jumped out of his seat, "Wha- what do you mean?"**

**I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.**

**Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"**

**"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?"**

"So basically everything." Reyna commented.

**He winced. "Look Percy. . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers. . ." **

**"Grover-"**

**"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and . . ." **

**"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."**

**His ears turned pink.**

**From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."**

**The card was in fancy script which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:**

_**Grover Underwood**_

_**Keeper**_

_**Half-Blood Hill**_

_**Long Island, New York**_

_**(800) 000-0009**_

**"What's Half-"**

**"Don't say it aloud!" He yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address." **

**My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.**

**"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I wasn't to come visit your mansion."**

**He nodded. "Or if you need me."**

**"Why would I need you?"**

The others gave him disapproving looks.

**It came out harsher than I meant it to.**

**Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I - ****I kind of have to protect you." **

**I stared at him. **

**All year long, I'd gotten into fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. **

"AW!" Piper said.

"That's so nice." Hazel added.

**And here he was acting like he was the one who defended _me. _**

**"Grover." I said. "what exactly are you protecting me from?" **

**There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.**

**After a few minutes of clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.**

**We were on a stretch of country road- no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old- fashioned fruit stand.**

**The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples. walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.**

"Don't tell me they are who I think they are." Annabeth pleaded.

"Sorry." Percy said. "I wish I could but then I'd be lying."

Annabeth paled considerably.

**I mean these socks were the size of sweaters but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other, The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.**

**All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.**

**The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.**

"No." Annabeth said. "No, no no."

Percy pulled her to him. "It's fine Annabeth, I'm okay." He assured her, "I'm right here."

"Dude, you met the Fates?" Frank said bewildered, "How are you even still alive?"

"It wasn't for me. It was for a friend of ours." Percy explained.

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked.

"You'll find out later." Percy told them, still holding Annabeth in his arms.

Frank turned back to the book and started reading again.

**I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.**

**"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"**

**"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"**

**"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"**

"Really not cool dude." Jason shook his head.

"It's not like I knew they were the Fates." Percy said, "If I had I wouldn't have made that joke."

**"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."**

**The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors - gold and silver, long-bladed like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.**

**"We're getting on the bus," He told me. "Come on."**

**"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."**

**"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.**

**Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that _snip _across four lanes of traffic. er two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, wondering who they could possibly be For- Sasquatch or Godzilla.**

The other demigods let out a few chuckles at this trying to relieve the tension.

**At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered and the engine roared back to life.**

**The passengers cheered. **

**"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!" **

**Once we got going, I started to feel feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.**

**Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering. **

**"Grover?"**

**"Yeah?" **

**"What are you not telling me?"**

"Only everything you need to know." Leo replied.

"Leo, you know you're talking to a book right?" Piper said looking a little concerned.

"Yeah, so?"

"Just making sure."

**He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"**

**"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like . . . Mrs. Dodds are they?"**

**His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. **

"A lot worse." Jason agreed.

He** said, "Just tell me what you saw."**

**"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."**

**He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost- older.**

**He said, "You saw her snip the cord."**

**"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.**

**"This isn't happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like last the last time."**

"Oh Grover." Annabeth said sadly. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

**"What last time?" **

**"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."**

**"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?" **

**"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."**

**This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.**

**"Is this like a superstition or something?" **

"Yes, no, maybe so." Leo commented drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair he was sitting in.

**No answer.**

**Grover- that snipping of the yard. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"**

**He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin. **

"That's the end of the second chapter." Frank announced. "Who's reading next?"

"I'll read." Reyna announced. The others looked at her in shock. "What? the faster we get this reading done, the faster we can get back to our respective missions." She reasoned.

Reyna cleared her throat and began to read.

**Chapter 3 Grover Unexpectedly loses his pants. **

They all laughed at the chapter title.

Leo wiped some tears from him eyes from laughing so hard. "This is going to be a great chapter I can tell."

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this fanfiction. Please leave comments and or suggestions in a review to help me improve my writing skills. Thank you!


	4. Chapter 4

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 4

Reading again

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Heroes of Olympus Books. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Grover Unexpectedly loses his pants. **

"Grover!?" Leo fake gasped. "How could you? That's so indecent!"

Reyna cleared her throat once more and started reading again.

**Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we go to the bus terminal.**

"PERCY!" Annabeth scolded smacking him on the arm.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"How could you just leave Grover behind like that?" Hazel demanded.

"Sorry!"

"That was rude." Piper added in.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry okay!?"

Reyna turned back to the book.

**I know, I know. It was rude.**

"Yes, it was." Piper repeated.

**But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering "Why does it this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?" **

"That would freak me out too." Hazel admitted.

**Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.**

**"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.**

**A word about my mother, before you meet her.**

"Amazing." Nico commented.

"Yeah, she is pretty amazing." Percy agreed.

Annabeth nodded her head in agreement.

Reyna continued to read.

**Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much for her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma. **

"That's sad." Piper said.

**The only good break she had was meeting my dad.**

**I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.**

**See, they weren't married. She told me that he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.**

**Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea. She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never once complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid. **

**Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano, who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. They guy reeked like moldy pizza wrapped in gym shorts. **

"Okay, can I just say," Piper continued, "Ewww! Gross!" The daughter of Aphrodite looked a little green.

**Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard. The way Smelly Gabe treated her, the way he and I got along . . . well, when I came home is a good example.**

**I walked into our little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The Television blared EPSN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet.**

**Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So you're home."**

**"Where's my mom?"**

**"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"**

**That was it. No _Welcome back. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months? _**

**Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something.**

Piper looking even more green at this, put a hand over her mouth. Jason looked at his girlfriend worriedly.

"You okay, Piper?"

She nodded her head slowly.

"Are you sure?"

She shook her head. She walked over to the Argo II's side and threw up over the side. Jason was at her side in a moment holding back her hair as she emptied the contents of her stomach. "Thanks."

The two took their seats again and Reyna started to read once more.

**He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending money on cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that out "guy secret." Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out.**

"What?!" The rest of the seven, Nico and Reyna exploded. They all looked ready to kill this guy. Especially Annabeth and Nico.

"It's okay, guys." Percy tried to assure them.

"Okay?" Frank said incredulously. "How can any of that be okay?!"

"He got what he deserved okay?" Percy said. "Let's just keep reading."

Reyna picked up the book.

**"I don't have any cash," I told him.**

**He raised a greasy eyebrow.**

**Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else.**

**"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, maybe seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?" **

"You're one to talk." Hazel muttered angrily, crossing her arms. She was still furious about how Percy's Ex- stepfather treated him.

"Is he still your step-father?" Jason asked.

Percy shook his head no.

"What happens to him?" Piper asked.

"You'll see."

**Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."**

"At least one of them is a decent human being." Reyna remarked before going back to reading.

**"Am I _right?" _Gabe repeated.**

"No, not at all." Leo grumbled.

**Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two passed gas in harmony. **

"Gross." Piper said wrinkling her nose in disgust.

**"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."**

**"Your report card came, brain boy!" He shouted after me. "I wouldn't act so snooty!" **

**I slammed the door to my room, which wasn't really my room. During the school months, it was Gabe's "study." HE didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boots on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.**

**I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home Sweet Home.**

They laughed at Percy's sarcasm.

**Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.**

**But as soon as I remembered that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic- how he's made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone-something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing lone, horrible talons. **

**Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"**

The others let out breaths they didn't realize that they were holding.

**She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted.**

**My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few grey streaks mixed in with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad. I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe.**

"That woman is a saint." Reyna declared before continuing.

**"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"**

**Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world: chocolate, licorice, and all the other stuff she sold at the candy shop in Grand Central. She'd brought me a huge bag of "free samples," The was she always did when I came home.**

**We sat together on the edge of he bed. While I attacked the blueberry sour strings, she ran her hand through my hair and demanded to know everything I hadn't put in my letters. She didn't mention anything about my getting expelled. She didn't seem to care about that. But was I okay? Was her little boy doing all right? **

Leo smiled sadly thinking of his own mother. Frank saw the look on his face and gave a sad smile of his own. They had both lost their mothers and Percy's mom reminded them of their own mothers that had passed away.

**I told her she was smothering me, and to lay off and all that, but secretly, I was really, really glad to see her.**

**From the other room, Gabe yelled, "Hey Sally- how about some bean dip, huh?" **

The demigods clenched their teeth. They really hated this Gabe character.

**I gritted my teeth. **

**My mom is the nicest lady in the world. She should've been married to a millionaire, not to some jerk like Gabe. **

**For her sake, I tried to sound upbeat about my last days at Yancy Academy. I told her I wasn't to down about the expulsion. I'd lasted almost the whole year this time. I'd made some new friends. I'd done pretty well in Latin. And honestly, the fights hadn't been as bad as the headmaster said. I liked Yancy Academy. I really did. I put such a good spin on the year, I almost convinced myself. I started choking up, thinking about Grover and MR. Brunner. Even Nancy Bobofit suddenly didn't seem so bad.**

**Until that trip to the museum . . . **

**"What?" my mom asked. Her eyes tugged at my conscious, trying to pull out the secrets. "Did something scare you?" **

**"No, Mom." **

**I felt bad lying. I wanted to tell her about Mrs. Dodds and the three old ladies with the yarn, but I thought it would sound stupid.'**

**She pursed her lips. She knew I was holding back, but she didn't push me.**

**"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach." **

**My eyes widened. "Montauk?" **

**"Three night-same cabin."**

**"When?" **

**She smiled. "As soon as I get changed."**

**I couldn't believe it. My mom and I hadn't been the last two summers, because Gabe said there wasn't enough money.**

"He probably gambled it all away, that jerk." Piper grumbled.

**Gabe appeared in the doorway and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"**

**I wanted to punch him, but I met my mom's eyes and I understood she was offering me a deal: be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until she was ready to leave for Montauk. Then we would get out of here.**

**"I was on my way, honey," she told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."**

**Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"**

**"I knew it," I muttered. "He won't let us go."**

"Oh, he'd better." Annabeth said with an edge to her voice.

**"Of course he will," my mom said evenly. "Your stepfather is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added. "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole, Sour Cream. The works."**

"Ah! Bribery!" Leo said satisfied, "That'll get the job done."

**Gabe softened a bit. "So this money for your trip . . . it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"**

**"Yes, honey," my mother said.**

**"And you won't take the car anywhere but there and back."**

**"We'll be very careful."**

**Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry up with that seven-layer dip . . . And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."**

**Maybe if I kick you in your soft spot, I thought. And make you sing soprano for a week.**

They all laughed. "Please tell me you did." Leo said.

"Nope, sorry." Percy said. "But I do get him back."

"How?"

"Oh, you'll see," Percy said.

"I'm really getting sick of hearing those last two words." Jason groaned.

"Percy just smirked in response.

**But my mom's eyes warned me not to make him mad.**

**Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?**

**"I'm sorry," I muttered. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now." **

**Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect sarcasm in my statement.**

**"Yeah, whatever." he decided.**

**He went back to his game.**

**"Thank you, Percy," My mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about . . . whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"**

**For a moment, I thought I saw anxiety in her eyes- the same fear I'd seen in Grover during the bus ride- as if my mom too felt an odd chill in the air.**

**But then her smile returned, and I figured I must have been mistaken. She ruffled my hair and went to make Gabe his seven-layer dip. **

"Your mom is much to nice to be with a jerk like that." Piper said, "Please tell me she gets rid of him.'

"She does,"

Piper sighed in relief, "Thank the gods."

**An hour later we were ready to leave. **

**Gabe took a break from his poker game lone enough to watch me lug my mom's bags to the car. He kept gripping and groaning about losing her cooking- and more important, his '78 Camaro- for the whole weekend.**

**"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," he warned me as I loaded the last bag. "Not one little scratch."**

**Like I'd be the one driving. I was twelve. But that didn't matter to Gabe. If a seagull so much as pooped on his paint job, he'd find a way to blame me. **

They gritted their teeth once more, all nine of them.

**Watching his lumber back toward the apartment building, I got so mad I did something that I can't explain. As Gabe reached the doorway, I made the hand gesture I'd seen Grover make on the bus, a sort of warding-off-evil gesture, a clawed hand over my heart, then a shoving movement toward Gabe. The screen door slammed shut so hard it whacked him in the butt and sent him flying up the staircase as if he's been shot from a cannon. **

They all burst into fits of laughter.

**Maybe it was just the wind, or some freak accident with the hinges, but I didn't stay long enough to find out.**

**I got in the Camaro and told my mom to step on it. **

"Wise choice." Annabeth said as she nodded.

**Our rental cabin was on the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken into the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders-**

Reyna paused for a second as Annabeth shuddered.

**-in the cabinets, and most of the time the sea was too cold to swim in. **

**I loved the place.**

"Seaweed Brain." The blonde haired daughter of Athena murmured affectionately.

Percy gave her a smile.

**We'd been going ever since I was a baby. My mom had been going even longer. She never exactly said, but I knew why the beach was special to her. It was the place where she'd met my dad. **

**As we got closer to Montauk, she seemed to grow younger, years of worry and work disappearing from her face. Her eyes turned the color of the sea. **

**We got there at sunset, opened all the cabin's windows, and went through our usual cleaning routine. We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work. **

**I guess I should explain the blue food. **

**See, Gabe had once told my mom that there was no such thing. They had this fight, which seemed like a really small thing at the time. But ever since, my mom went out of her way to eat blue. **

"Oh!" Frank said.

"So that's why you always eat blue stuff!" Hazel said.

Percy nodded.

**She baked blue birthday cakes. She mixed blueberry smoothies. She brought home blue candy from the shop. This - along with keeping her maiden name, Jackson, rather than call herself Mrs. Ugliano - was proof that she wasn't totally suckered by Gabe. She did have a rebellious streak, like me.**

"I think it's a lot more than a streak of rebelliousness." Leo commented.

**When it got dark, we made a fire. We roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. Mom told me stories about when she was a kid, back before her parents died in the plane crash. She told me about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the candy shop.**

**Eventually, I got up the nerve to ask about what was always on my mind whenever we came to Montauk - my father. Mom's eyes went all misty. I figured she would tell me the same things she always did, but I never got tired of hearing them.**

**"He was kind, Percy," she said. "Tall, handsome, and powerful. Nut gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."**

**Mom fished a blue Jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."**

**I wondered how she could say that. What was so great about me? A dyslexic, hyperactive boy with a D+ report card, kicked out of school for the sixth time in six years. **

**"How old was I?" I asked. "I mean . . . when he left?"**

**She watched the flames. "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."**

**"But . . . he knew me as a baby."**

**"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born."**

**I tried to square this with the fact that I seemed to remember . . . something about my father. A warm glow. A smile. **

**I had always assumed he knew me as a baby. My mom never said it outright, but still I'd felt it must be true. Now, to be told that he'd never seen me . . . **

**I felt angry at my father. Maybe it was stupid, but I resented him for going on that ocean voyage, for not having the guts to marry my mom. He'd left us and now we were stuck with Smelly Gabe.**

**"Are you going to send me away again?" I asked her. "To another boarding school?"**

**She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.**

**"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think we'll have to do something."**

**"Because you don't want me around?"**

The demigods mouths all dropped in shock. They never expected Percy to say anything like that, especially to his own mother.

"PERCY!" Hazel said still in shock. "How could you say something like that to your own mother?

Percy looked down ashamed of his previous actions.

** I regretted the words as soon as they were out.**

"Good." Piper huffed.

**My mom's eyes welled with tears. She took my hand, squeezed it tight. "OH, Percy, no. I-I _have _to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."**

**Her words reminded me of what Mr. Brunner had said - that it was best for me to leave Yancy. **

**"Because, I'm not normal," I said.**

**"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe."**

**"Safe from what?" **

**She met my eyes, and a flood of memories came back to me - all the weird, scary things that had ever happened to me, some of which I'd tried to forget. **

**During third grade, a man in a black trench coat had stalked me on the playground.**

"Well, that's creepy," Leo said.

**When the teachers threatened to call the police, he went away growling, but no one believed me when I told them that right under his broad-brimmed hat, the man only had one eye, right in the middle of his head. **

Pier, Leo, and Jason shivered thinking about their experience with Cyclops on their first quest.

**Before that - a really early memory. I was in preschool, and a teacher accidentally put me down for a nap in a cot that a snake had slithered into. My mom screamed when she came to pick me up and found me playing with a limp, scaly rope I'd somehow managed to strangle to death with my meaty toddler hands. **

"Like Hercules." Leo said.

Jason, Piper, and Percy all scowled at the mentioned name.

**In every school, something creepy had happened, something unsafe, and I was forced to move. **

**I knew I should tell my mom about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds at the art museum, about my weird hallucination that I sliced my math teacher into dust with a sword.**

"But you didn't, did you?" Reyna said.

Percy shook his head side to side.

**But I couldn't make myself tell her. I had a strange feeling that the news would end out trip to Montauk, and I didn't want that.**

**"I've tried to keep you close to me as I could," my mom said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy - the place your father wanted to send you. And I just . . . I just can't stand to do it."**

**"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"**

**"Not a school," She said softly. "A summer camp."**

**My head was spinning. Why would my dad - who hadn't even stayed around long enough to see me born - talk to my mom about a summer camp? And if it was so important, why hadn't she ever mentioned it before?**

**"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."**

**"For good? But if it's only a summer camp . . ."**

**She turned to the fire, and I knew from her expression that if I asked her anymore questions she would start to cry.**

**That night I had a vivid dream.**

**It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. **

"What are our dad's fighting about this time?" Jason sighed.

"You'll see."

Jason groaned at the reply.

**The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagle's wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder. **

"It's not our dad is it?" Hazel asked for her and Nico's sake.

"No, it's not." Percy responded.

**I ran toward them, knowing I had to stop them from killing each other, but I was running in slow motion. I knew I would be too late. I saw the eagle dive down, it's beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and I screamed, _No!_**

**I woke with a start.**

**Outside, it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. There was no horse or eagle on the beach, just lightning making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery. **

**With the next thunderclap, my mom woke. She sat up, eyes wide, and said, "Hurricane."**

**I knew that was crazy. Long Island never sees hurricanes this early in summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten. **

"Yes, the ocean forgot." Leo said sarcastically. "How dare it forget that they aren't supposed to have hurricanes this early in the summer."

**Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant bellow, an angry tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.**

**Then a much closer noise, like mallets in the sand. A desperate voice - someone yelling, pounding on our cabin door.**

**My mother sprang out of bed in her nightgown and threw open the lock.**

**Grover stood framed in the doorway against a backdrop of pouring rain. But he wasn't . . . he wasn't exactly Grover. **

"Then who was he? His evil twin brother?"

"LEO!"

"What?"

Reyna quickly continued to read before anyone else could speak.

**"Searching all night," he gasped. "What were you thinking?"**

**My mother looked at me in terror - not scared of Grover, but of why he'd come.**

**"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"**

**I was frozen, looking at Grover. I couldn't understand what I was seeing.**

_**"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" **_**he yelled.**

Reyna stumbled over the ancient Greek phrase.

** "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"**

**I was too shocked to register that he'd just cursed in Ancient Greek, and I'd understood him perfectly. I was too shocked to wonder how Grover had gotten here by himself in the middle of the night. Because Grover didn't have his pants on - and where his legs should be . . . where his legs should be. . .**

**My mom looked at me sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "_Percy _tell me _now!"_**

**I stammered something about the old ladies at the fruit stand, and Mrs. Dodds, and my mom stared at me, her face deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.**

**She grabbed her purse, tossed me my rain jacket, and said, "Get to the car. Both of you. _Go!"_**

**Grover ran for the Camaro - but he wasn't running, exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters. and suddenly his story about a muscular disorder made sense to me. I understood how he could run so fast and still limp when he walked.**

**Because where his feet should be, there were no feet. There were cloven hoofs. **

"Who's reading next?" Reyna asked.

"I will I guess." Leo sighed.

Reyna handed the book to him.

The son of Hephaestus began to read.

**Chapter 4 My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting**

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this. Any suggestions for how the demigods should react to certain parts of the books? Also I was considering doing the Demigod Files and The Demigod diaries... Should I?


	5. Chapter 5

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 5

Just keep Reading

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Heroes of Olympus Books. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 4: My Mother Teaches Me Bullfighting**

Leo raised his eyebrow at this. "Your mom knows how to bullfight?"

"No she doesn't," Percy said. "At least not in the sense that you're thinking of."

Leo shrugged and began to read.

**We tore through the night along dark country roads, Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on the gas. **

**Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat and I wondered it I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag carpet pants. **

"Seriously?" Frank said, "Is there even such a thing?"

"I have no idea." Percy replied.

**But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo - lanolin, like from wool. The**** smell of a wet barnyard animal. **

**All I could think to say was, "So, you and my mom . . . know each other?"**

**Grover's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, though there were no cars behind us. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean. we've never met in person. But she knew I was watching you."**

"Stalker!" Leo said before quickly continuing to read.

**"Watching me?"**

**"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I _am _your friend."**

**"Um . . . what _are _you exactly?" **

**"That doesn't matter right now."**

**"It doesn't matter? From the waist down, my best friend is a donkey-"**

**Grover let out a sharp, throaty "_Blaa-ha-ha!" _**

**I'd heard him make that noise before, but I'd always assumed that it was a nervous laugh. Now I realized it was more of an irritated bleat.**

**"Goat!" he cried.**

**"What?"**

**"I'm a _goat _from the waist down." **

**"You just said it didn't matter." **

"Exactly." Leo said to himself.

_**"Blaa-ha-ha! **_**There are satyrs who would trample you underhoof for such an insult!"**

**"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like . . . Mr. Brunner's myths?"**

**"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a_ myth, _Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"**

**"So you _admit _there was a Mrs. Dodds!"**

**"Of course!" **

**"Then why-"**

**"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be pretty obvious. "We put the mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."**

**"Who I- wait a minute, what do you mean?" **

"You're a demigod, Percy," Leo said in a serious voice, "Monsters are attracted to you like bees to honey."

There was a moment of silence.

Then everyone burst out laughing.

Leo began again once everyone had calmed down.

**The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail. **

**"Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."**

**"Safety from what? Who's after me?"**

**"Oh, nobody much." Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions"**

**"Grover!" **

**"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"**

**I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird. **

**My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooden hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences. **

**"Where are we going?" I asked.**

**"The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place where your father wanted to send you."**

**"The place you didn't want me to go."**

**"Please, dear," My mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger.**

**"Because some old ladies cut yarn." **

"You know when you say it like that," Jason said, "It sounds absolutely ridiculous."

**"Those weren't the old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means - the fact that they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to . . . when someone's about to die."**

"Very smooth Grover." Leo commented before he began to read again.

**"Whoa. You said 'you,'"**

**"No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"**

**"You meant 'you.' As in _me."_**

**"I meant _you, _like 'someone." Not you, _you."_**

"What?!" Nico said bewildered.

"Did anyone get any of that?" Frank said.

The others looked just as confused as he did.

**"Boys!" my mom said.**

**She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid - a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**"We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring mu question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."**

**"I didn't know where _there _was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive. **

**Outside, nothing but rain and darkness - the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really _hadn't _been human. She's meant to kill me. **

"No, really?" Leo said, "I thought she wanted to invite you to a tea party."

They all gave him looks. Leo quickly went back to reading.

**Then I thought about Mr. Brunner . . . and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling _boom!, _and our car exploded.**

The demigods looked worried about their friend.

Percy stared at them before saying, "You guys know I'm right here, I'm fine. We all know I didn't die."

Leo picked up the book and began to read.

**I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time. **

"Can I just say, Ouch!" Frank commented.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Percy told them.

Leo returned to reading.

**I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow." **

**"Percy!" my mom shouted.**

**"I'm okay. . . ."**

**I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged In the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in. **

**Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road.**

Jason scowled looking up at the sky, "Really Dad? _Really?" _

**Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump, "Grover!"**

**He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!**

"Aw! That's so sweet!" Piper said.

"Careful, Piper." Leo warned, "Your Aphrodite side is showing."

She glared at him, "Shut up repair boy."

"Hey, just saying."

Piper kept glaring at him. "Just keep reading."

"Leo quickly grabbed the book again.

**Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.**

The demigods chuckled at this.

**"Percy," my mother said. "we have to . . ." Her voice faltered.**

**I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. HIs top half was bulky and fuzzy. HIs upraised hands made it look like he had horns.**

**I swallowed hard. "Who is-"**

**"Percy," my mother said, deadly serious. "Get out of the car."**

**My mother threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. I tried mine. Stuck too. I looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.**

**"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy - you have to run. Do you see that tree?"**

_**"What?"**_

**Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill. **

"Thalia's pine." Piper realized.

**"That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a bug farmhouse sown in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."**

**"Mom, you're coming too."**

**Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. **

**"No!" I shouted. "You _are _coming with me. Help me carry Grover."**

**"Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.**

**The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward up, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, I realized he _couldn't _be holding a blanket over his head, because his hands -huge meaty hands - were swinging at his sides. There was no blanket. Meaning the bulky, fuzzy mass that was to big too be his head . . . was his head. And the points that looked like horns . . .**

**"He doesn't want _us," _my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."**

**"But . . ."**

**"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please." **

"Yes, listen to your mom, Percy." Hazel said.

**I got mad, then mad at my mother, at Grover the goat, at the thing with horns that was lumbering toward us slowly and deliberately like, like a bull.**

**I climbed across Grover and pushed the door open into the rain. "We're going together. Come on, Mom."**

**"I told you-" **

**"Mom! I am not leaving you, Help me with Grover."**

**I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light, but I couldn't have carried him very far if my mom hadn't come to my aid.**

**Together, we draped Grover's arms over our shoulders and started stumbling uphill through wet waist-high grass.**

"Doesn't anyone ever cut the Grass?" Piper questioned. Leo opened his mouth to reply, but Piper cut him off, "That was a rhetorical question Leo. I wasn't looking for an answer."

**Glancing back, I got my first clear look at the monster. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of** **_Muscle Man _magazine - bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except underwear -**

"What?" Leo said.

The demigods burst out laughing at the mental image.

** I mean bright white Fruit of the Looms - which would've looked funny, except that the top half of his body was so scary. Coarse brown hair started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.**

**His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout al long as my arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes and horns - enormous black-and-white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener. **

**I recognized the monster, all right. He had been in one of the first stories that Mr. Brunner had told us. But he couldn't be real.**

"You want to bet?" Leo commented.

**I blinked the rain out of my eyes. "That's-"**

**"Pasiphae's son," my mother said. "I wish I knew how badly they wanted to kill you."**

**"But he's the Min-" **

**"Don't say his name," She warned. "Names have power."**

**The pine tree was still way too far - a hundred yards uphill at least. **

**I glanced behind me again.**

**The bull-man was hunched over our car, looking in the windows - or not looking, exactly. More like snuffling, nuzzling. I wasn;t sure why he bothered, since we were only about fifty feet away.**

**"Food?" Grover moaned. **

**"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?" **

**"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."**

**As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his hear and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.**

_**Not a scratch. **_**I remembered Gabe saying.**

**Oops.**

The demigods chuckled.

**"Percy," my mom said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump put of the way - directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"**

**"How do you know all of this?"**

**"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me." **

**"Keeping me near you? But-"**

**Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill.**

**He'd smelled us.**

**The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker, and Grover wasn't getting any lighter.**

**The bull-man closed in. Another few seconds and he's be on top of us.**

**My mother must've been exhausted, but she shouldered Grover. "Go, Percy! Separate! Remember what I said."**

**I didn't want to split up, but I had the feeling she was right - it was our only chance. I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me. His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat,**

**He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest. **

They all held their breath in anticipation.

**The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt, but that wouldn't work. I could never outrun this thing. So I held my ground, and at the last moment, I jumped to the side.**

They all let out sighs of relief.

"Seriously guys!? Percy said, "I'm right here!"

**The bull-man stormed past like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.**

**We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away, We'd never make it.**

**The bull man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept eyeing my mother, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from Grover.**

**"Run, Percy!" she told me. "I can't go any father. Run!"**

"Yes, run Percy run!" Leo said. Percy glared at him for some reason. Leo held his hands up in a sign of surrender and then began to read once more.

**But I stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her. She tried to sidestep, as she'd told me to do, but the monster had learned his lesson. HIs hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air. **

**"Mom!"**

**She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"**

**Then, with an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around my mother's neck, and she was dissolved before my eyes, melting into light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash, and she was simply . . . gone.**

"Sorry man." Leo apologized after reading that line.

"It's fine." Percy said stiffly. "You didn't know. Besides it turn out all right in the end. I find a way to get her back."

The demigods all looked curiously at him, but he just motioned for Leo to keep reading.

**"No!"**

**Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs - the same rush of energy I'd gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.**

**The bull-man bore down on Grover, who lay helpless in the grass. The monster hunched over, snuffling my best friend, as if he were about to lift Grover up and make him dissolve too.**

**I couldn't allow that. **

"There's your fatal flaw at work." Annabeth sighed.

**I stripped off my red rain jacket.**

**"Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"**

"You need better insults." Leo informed him before reading again.

**"Raaaarrrrr!" The monster turned toward me, shaking his meaty fists.**

**I had an idea - a stupid idea, but better than no idea at all,**

'Typical Percy.' The others all thought.

**I put my back to the big pine tree and waved my red jacket in front of the bull-man, thinking I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.**

**But it didn't happen like that.**

**The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab me whichever way I tried to dodge.**

**Time slowed down. **

'Kronos', Annabeth thought. 'Was he somehow involved in all of this?'

**My legs tensed. I couldn't jump sideways, so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.**

"Woah," Jason commented. 'He did all of that without training?'

**How did I do that? **

"That's what we all want to know." Frank said.

**I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.**

The demigods winced at that line.

**The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me. I locked my arms around his horns to keep from being thrown. Thunder and lightning were still going strong. The rain was in my eyes. The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.**

**The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and squashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.**

**Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.**

**"Food!" Grover moaned.**

A few chuckles were heard.

**The bull-man wheeled toward him, pawed the ground again, and got ready to charge. I thought about how he had squeezed the life out of my mother, made her disappear in a flash of light, and rage filled me like high-octane fuel. I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might. The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then - _snap!_**

**The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock. When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife.**

**The monster charged.**

**Without thinking, I rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, I drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.**

**The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate - not like my mother, in a flash of gold light, but like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.**

**The monster was gone. **

Their jaws dropped.

"You defeated the Minotaur with out any training?" Frank said.

"And a fury?" Hazel added.

Percy just shrugged like it was nothing.

**The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. I smelled like livestock and my knees were shaking. My head felt like it was splitting open. I was weak and scared and trembling with grief. I'd just seen my mother vanish. I wanted to lie down and cry,**

They all gave Percy looks of sympathy and pity.

**but there was Grover, needing my help, so I managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover - I wasn't going to let him go.**

**The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch, looking up at a ceiling fan circling above me, moths flying around a yellow light, and the stern faces of a familiar-looking bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's. **

Annabeth blushed slightly at the description.

**They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be." **

The demigods raised eyebrows at this comment.

**"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious . Bring him inside."**

"So, Annabeth." Leo began, "He's the one?"

The others laughed.

"Shut up Leo." She retorted, looking mortified. She didn't know that he had heard her say that.

Percy just smirked at his girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"That's the end of the chapter anyways." Leo said, "Who's going to read now?"

"I will." Nico volunteered. Leo handed him the book and Nico began to read.

**Chapter 5 I Play Pinochle With A Horse**

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this. I've decide I will do the Demigod Diaries, and the Demigod Files. When should I do them, though? After the PJO series or between the book like how they would happen according to the time line?


	6. Chapter 6

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 6

Reading more

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Heroes of Olympus Books. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 5: I Play Pinochle With A Horse**

**I had weird dreams full of barnyard animals. Most of them wanted to kill me, The rest wanted food.**

Nico raised an eyebrow at the sentence, before reading again.

**I must've woken up several times, but what I heard and saw made no sense, so I just passed out again. I remember lying in a sofa bed, being spoon-fed something that tasted like buttered popcorn, only it was pudding. The girl with curly blonde hair hovered over me, smirking as she scraped drips off my chin with the spoon. **

**When she saw my eyes were open, she asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"**

"Seriously?" Piper said, "How did you expect him to know anything about that?"

**I managed to croak, "What?"**

**She looked around, as if afraid someone would overhear. "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"**

**"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I don't . . ."**

**Somebody knocked on the door, and the girl quickly filled my mouth with pudding.**

"Great way to shut him up Annabeth." Leo laughed.

Percy just gave Leo and Nico, who had both been laughing death glares. They both quieted down and Nico began to read again.

**The next time I woke up, the girl was gone. **

**A husky blond dude, like a surfer, stood in the corner of the bedroom keeping watch over me. He had blue eyes - at least a dozen of them - on his cheeks, his forehead, the backs of his hands.**

**When I finally cam around for good, there was nothing unusual about my surroundings, except that they were nicer than what I was used to. I was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries. There was a blanket over my legs, a pillow behind my neck. All that was great, but my mouth felt like a scorpion had been using it for a nest. My tongue was dry and nasty and every one of my teeth hurt.**

**On the table beside next to me was a tall drink. It looked like iced apple juice, with a green straw and a paper parasol stuck through a maraschino cherry. **

**My hand was so weak I almost dropped the glass once I got my hand around it. **

**"Careful," a familiar voice said.**

**Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said Camp Half-Blood. Just plain old Grover. Not the goat boy. **

**So maybe I'd had a nightmare. Maybe my mom was okay. We were on vacation, and we'd stopped here at this big house for some reason. And . . .**

"You're still in denial aren't you?" Hazel said softly.

**"You saved my life," Grover said. "I . . . well, the least I could do . . . I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."**

**Reverently, he placed the shoe box in my lap.**

**Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood. It hadn't been a nightmare.**

**"The Minotaur," I said.**

**"Um, Percy , it isn't a good idea -"**

**"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" I demanded, "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."**

**Grover shifted uncomfortably.. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"**

**"My mom. Is she really . . ."**

**He looked down.**

**I stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.**

"What do you mean by that?" Jason asked.

"You'll-" Percy began.

"Let me guess," Jason said, "We'll see."

Percy nodded, "Now you're getting it Grace."

**My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.**

Nico paused. He had felt the same way when he lost his older sister, Bianca. He took a breath and began to read again.

**"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm - I'm the worst satyr in the world."**

"No you're not Grover." Annabeth said softly. They didn't bother to point out to her that she was talking to a book.

**He moaned, stomping his foot so hard that it came off. I mean, the converse hi-top came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole. **

**"Oh Styx!" he mumbled. **

**Thunder rolled across the clear sky.**

**As he struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, I thought, Well, that settles it.**

**Grover was a satyr. I was ready to bet that if I shaved his curly brown hair, I'd find tiny horns on his head. But I was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs.**

**All that meant was my mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light.**

**I was alone. An orphan. I would have to live with . . . Smelly Gabe? No. That would never happen. I would live on the streets first. I would pretend I was seventeen and join the army. I'd do something. **

**Grover was still sniffling. The poor kid - poor goat, satyr, whatever - looked as if he expected to be hit.**

"Poor Grover." Hazel said sadly.

Piper nodded her head in agreement.

Annabeth looked saddened at the last sentence. "It wasn't his fault. He shouldn't blame himself."

Percy nodded his head in affirmation.

**I said, "It wasn't your fault."**

**"Yes, it was. I was supposed to _protect _you."**

**"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"**

**"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least . . . I was."**

**"But, why . . ." I suddenly felt dizzy, my vision swimming. **

**"Don't strain yourself," Grover said. "Here."**

**He helped me hold the glass and put the straw to my lips.**

**I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice. It wasn't that at all. It was chocolate-chip cookies. Liquid cookies. And not just any cookies - my mom's homemade blue chocolate-chip cookies, buttery and hot, with the chips melting. Drinking it, my whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. My grief didn't go away, but I felt as if my mom had just brushed her hand against my cheek and given me a cookie the way she used to when I was small, and told me everything was going to be okay.**

"AW!" The girls once again cooed, embarrassing Percy once again.

**Before I knew it, I'd drained the glass. I stared into it, sure I'd just had a warm drink, but the ice cubes hadn't even melted. **

**"Was it good?" Grover asked.**

**I nodded.**

**"What did it taste like?" He sounded so wistful, I felt guilty.**

**"Sorry," I said. "I should've let you taste."**

**His eyes got wide. "Ni! That's not what I meant. I just . . . wondered."**

**"Chocolate-chip cookies," I said. "My mom's. Homemade."**

**He sighed. "And how do you feel?"**

**"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."**

**"That's good," he said. "That's good. I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff." **

**"What do you mean?"**

**He took the empty glass from me gingerly, as if it were dynamite, **

"It might as well have been." Annabeth commented.

**and set it back on the table. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."**

**The all the way around the farmhouse.**

**My legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but I held on to it. I'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. I wasn't going to let it go. **

**As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.**

**We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process what I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture - an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena - except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings. **

**Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavored pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them.**

**The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels - what do you call them , hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who's turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-patterned Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fit right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.**

**"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron. . . ." **

**He pointed at the guy whose back was to me.**

**First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.**

**"Mr. Brunner!" I cried.**

"Actually it's Chiron." Leo said.

**The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the answers _B._**

**"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."**

**He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D. who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you."**

**"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little further away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult had been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.**

**"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.**

**She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."**

**Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."**

**She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan, and her curly blonde hair, she was almost exactly what I thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as is she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight. **

**She glanced at the Minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, _You killed a minotaur! or Wow. you're so awesome! _or something like that.**

**Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."**

The demigods burst out into fits of laughter.

After a few minutes they had finally calmed down enough for Nico to continue reading the chapter.

**Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her. **

**"So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?"**

**"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron."**

**"Okay," Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D . . . does that stand for something?" **

**Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."**

**"Oh. Right. Sorry."**

**"I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time."**

**"House call?"**

**"My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a lookout. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to . . . ah, take a leave of absence."**

**I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared and Mr. Brunner had taken the class.**

**"You can to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked.**

**Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother, let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test."**

**"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "are you playing or not?"**

**"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt.**

"Oh, I don't know... Maybe because he's a god." Leo commented.

**"You _do _know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed me suspiciously.**

**"I'm afraid not," I said.**

**"I'm afraid not, _sir." _ he said.**

**"Sir," I repeated. I was liking the camp director less and less.**

"Me too, Percy. Me too." Leo said.

The others just glanced at him. Leo was being more talkative than usual. As if he were making an effort to be extra funny and . . . to be okay. . . or at least act like he was.

When Leo realized Nico wasn't reading he looked up, "What?" Leo asked.

"Leo," Piper said cautiously, "Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine, why?" He said a little too quickly.

Jason opened his mouth to say something but Nico started reading again sensing that Leo didn't want to talk.

The fire-user shot him a grateful look; which didn't go unnoticed by Nico and the seven other demigods.

**"Well," he told me, "it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all **_**civilized**_** young men to know the rules."**

**"I'm sure the boy can learn," Chiron said.**

**"Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun - Chiron - why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?" **

**Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question." **

**The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile. **

**Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, _I _was his star student. HE expected _me _to have the right answer.**

**"Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?"**

**"She said . . ." I remembered her sad eyes, looking over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her."**

**"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man are you bidding or not?"**

**"What?" I asked.**

**He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle, and so I did.**

**"I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid out usual orientation film won't be sufficient."**

**"Orientation film?" I asked.**

**"No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know" - he pointed to the horn in the shoe box- "that you have killed the Minotaur. No small eat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods - the forces you call the Greek gods - are very much alive."**

**I stared at the others around the table.**

**I waited for somebody to yell, _Not!_ But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.**

**"Mr. D," Grover said timidly. "if your not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?" **

**"Eh? Oh, all right." **

**Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.**

**"Wait," I told Chiron. "You're telling me there's such a thing as God?"**

**"Well, now," Chiron said. "God - capital G, God. That's a different matter all together. We shan't deal with the metaphysical." **

**"Metaphysical? But you were just talking about -"**

**"Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter?"**

"How on earth is that a smaller matter?" Leo interjected.

**"Smaller?"**

"Exactly." Leo said exasperated, "Wouldn't that be a much bigger matter?"

**"Yes, quite. The Gods we discussed In Latin class."**

**"Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them."**

**And there it was again - distant thunder on a cloudless day.**

**"Young man," Said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around, if I were you."**

**"But they're stories," I said. "They're - myths, to explain lightning and the seasons and stuff. They're what people believed before there was science." **

**"Science!" Mr. D scoffed. "And tell me. Perseus Jackson" - I flinched when he said my real name, which I never told anybody - "what will people think of your 'science' two thousand years from now?" Mr. D continued. "Hmm? They will call it primitive mumbo jumbo. That's what. Oh, I love mortals - they have absolutely no sense of perspective. They think they've come s_o-o-o _far. And have they, Chiron? Look at this boy and tell me."**

**I wasn't liking Mr. D much, but there was something about the way he called me mortal, as if . . . he wasn't.**

"And he finally figured it out!" Leo said, "It's a miracle!"

Percy shot him a dirty look before Nico continued to read.

**It was enough to put a lump in my throat, to suggest why Grover was dutifully minding his cards, chewing his soda can, and keeping him mouth shut.**

**"Percy," Chiron said, "you may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that _immortal _means immortal.**

"No, really?" Leo said rolling his eyes.

**Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing just as you are for all time?"**

Leo thought for a moment, "Nope," he announced, "I can't imagine it."

**I was about to answer, off the top of my head, that it sounded like a pretty good deal, but the tone of Chiron's voice made me hesitate. **

**"You mean whether people believed in you or not," I said.**

**"Exactly," Chiron agreed. "If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning? What if I told you Perseus Jackson, that someday people would call _you _a myth, just created to explain how little boys can get over loosing their mothers?"**

"Well, that's harsh." Leo said.

**My heart pounded. He was trying to make me mad for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him.**

"Maybe, he was trying to get you mad so that you would use your powers." Annabeth said, "That way he could figure out who your godly parent is."

"Maybe." Percy shrugged.

**I said, "I wouldn't like it. But I don't believe in gods."**

**"Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you."**

**Grover said, "P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock."**

**"A lucky thing, too," Mr. D grumbled, playing a card.**

"How is that a lucky thing?" Frank asked.

**"Bad enough that I'm confined to this miserable job, working with boys who don't even believe!"**

**He waved his hand and a goblet appeared on the table, as if the sunlight had bent, momentarily, and woven the air into glass. The goblet filled itself with red wine.**

**My jaw dropped, but Chiron hardly looked up.**

**"Mr. D," he warned, "your restrictions."**

**Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise.**

**"Dear me." he looked at the sky and yelled, "Old habits! Sorry!"**

**More thunder. **

**Mr. D waved his hand again, and the wineglass changed into a fresh can of diet coke. He sighed unhappily, popped the top of the soda, and went back to his card game.**

**Chiron winked at me. "Mr. D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph who had been declared off-limits."**

**"A wood nymph," I repeated, still staring at the diet coke can like it was from outer space.**

The demigods laughed.

**"Yes," Mr. D confessed. Father loves to punish me. The first time, Prohibition. Ghastly! Absolutely horrid ten years! The second time - well, she really was pretty, and I couldn't stay away - the second time, he sent me here. Half-Blood Hill. Summer camp for brats like you. 'Be a better influence,' he told me. 'Work with youths rather than tearing them down.' Ha! Absolutely unfair."**

**Mr. D sounded about six yeas old, like a pouting little kid.**

The demigods burst into fits of laughter again.

**"And . . ." I stammered, "your father is . . ."**

**"_Di immortales, _Chiron," Mr. D said. "I thought you taught this boy the basics. My father is Zeus, of course."**

**I ran through D names from Greek Mythology. Wine. The skin of a tiger. The satyrs that all seemed to work here. The way Grover cringed, as if Mr. D were his master.**

**"You're Dionysus," I said. "The god of wine."**

**Mr. D rolled his eyes. "What do they say, these days, Grover? Do the children saiy, 'Well, duh!'?"**

**"Y-yes, Mr. D."**

**"Then, well, duh! Percy Jackson. Did you think I was Aphrodite, perhaps?"**

Piper shook her head. "He could never be my mother."

**"You're a god."**

**"Yes, child."**

**"A god. You."**

**He turned to look at me straight on, and I saw a kind of purplish fire in his eyes, a hint that this whiny, plump, little man, was only showing me the tiniest bit of his true nature. I saw visions of grape vines choking unbelievers to death, drunken warriors insane with battle lust, sailors screaming as their hands turned to flippers, their faces elongating into dolphin snouts. I knew that if I pushed him, Mr. D would show me worse things. He would plant a disease in my brain that would leave me wearing a straight jacket in a rubber room for the rest of my life.**

**"Would you like to test me child?" he said quietly. **

**"No. No, sir."**

**The fire died a little. He turned back to his card game. "I believe I win."**

**"Not quite, Mr. D," Chiron said. He set down a straight, and tallied the points, and said, "The game goes to me."**

**I thought Mr. D was going to vaporize Chiron right out of his wheelchair, but he just sighed through his nose, as if he was used to being beaten be the Latin teacher. He got up, and Grover rose, too.**

**"I'm tired," Mr. D said. "I believe I'll take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, _again, _about your less-than-perfect performance on this assignment.**

**Grover's face beaded with sweat. "Y-yes, sir."**

**Mr. D turned to me. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners."**

**He swept into the farmhouse, Grover following miserably. **

**"Will Grover be okay?" I asked Chiron.**

**Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled. "Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been . . . ah grounded, I guess you could say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus." **

**"Mount Olympus," I said. "You're telling me there really is a palace there?"**

**"Well, now, there's Mount Olympus in Greece. And the there's the home of the gods, the convergence point of their powers, which did indeed used to be on Mount Olympus. It's still called Mount Olympus, out of respect to the old ways, but the palace moves, Percy, just as the gods do."**

**"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like . . . in _America?" _**

**"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."**

**"The what?" **

**"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western civilization.' Do you think that's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years. The gods are a part of it. You might even say they are the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly to it that they couldn't possibly fade, not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated. The fire started in Greece. Then as you know - or as I hope you know, since you passed my course - the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Oh, different names, perhaps - Jupiter for Zeus, Venus for Aphrodite, and so on - but the same forces, the same gods." **

**"And then they died."**

"What?!" all the other demigods said, looking at Percy incredulously.

Percy rubbed the back of his head and gave them a sheepish grin.

Annabeth shook her head. "Seaweed Brain." She murmured snuggling into his chest.

The son of Poseidon smiled and wrapped his arms around his girl friend.

Nico felt a little tug at his heart.

Jason noticed the hurt expression on Nico's face. The son of Jupiter gave him a concerned look.

Nico ignored it and went back to reading.

**"Died? No. Did the West die? The gods simply moved, to Germany, to France, to Spain, for a while. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England. All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've rules, for the last three thousand years, you can see them In paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings. And yes, Percy, of course they are now in your United States. Look at your symbol, the eagle of Zeus. Look at the statue of Prometheus in Rockefeller Center, the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places. Like it or not - and believe me, plenty of people weren't very fond of Rome, either - America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."**

**It was all to much, especially the fact that _I _seemed to be included in Chiron's _we _as if I were part of some club.**

"You are." Leo said, "It's the Demigod world club."

**"Who are you, Chiron? Who . . . am I?" **

**Chiron smiled. He shifted his weight as if he were going to get up out of his wheelchair, but I knew that was impossible.**

"Impossible things are happening every day!" Leo sang.

The others just stared at him.

"Leo, please, for the love of the gods." Reyna told him, "Never sing again."

"What you don't like my singing Rey?"

"No, and don't call me Rey!"

**He was paralyzed from the waist down.**

"No, he isn't." Leo put out.

**"Who are you?" he mused. "Well, that's the question we all want answered, isn't it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven. **

"Why did they put you in cabin eleven?" Piper said. "Didn't Chiron see the water display you did on the field trip? And even if he didn't Grover did, so . . . wouldn't he have told Chiron?"

Percy shrugged, "I don't know, I guess not."

**There will be new friends to meet. And plenty of time for lessons tomorrow. Besides, there will be s'mores at the campfire tonight, and I simply adore chocolate." **

**And then he did rise from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. His waist kept getting longer, rising above his belt. At first, I thought he was wearing very long, white velvet underwear, **

Laughter was heard form the demigods.

**but as he kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man, I realized that the velvet underwear wasn't underwear; it was the front of an animal, muscle and sinew under coarse white fur. And the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, an enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there's no way it could've held all of him, A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.**

**I stared at the horse who had just sprung from the wheelchair: a huge white stallion. But where its neck should be was the upper body of my Latin teacher, smoothly grafted to the horse's trunk.**

**"What a relief," the centaur said. "I'd been cooped up in there so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come, Percy Jackson. Let's meet the other campers." **

"Done," Nico announced. He handed the book to Jason.

Jason took it but didn't read. "Maybe we should all take a quick break." Jason suggested, "Eat, stretch our legs, and everything."

"That sounds like a good idea." Annabeth agreed. "What do all think?"

The others nodded in assent. They demigods dispersed on the ship. Jason grabbed Leo's arm. "We need to talk Leo." Piper cam up to his other side.

"No, we don't." Leo argued. He tried to pull away but the son of Jupiter held fast.

"Yes, we do, Leo." Piper said. "Why are you pretending to be alright?"

Leo froze suddenly. "What - What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what we mean Leo." Piper said sternly.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it." Leo shook himself free. "Besides I'm sure you'll find out when we read the books.

Leo stalked off in the other direction.

After a half hour had passed the demigods all regrouped and Jason began to read.

**Chapter 5 I Become Supreme Lord Of The Bathroom**

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Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this. Let me know what you think. Also I thought I'd let you all know that I'll be hanging out tomorrow with my friend(Ex-Boyfriend, but we parted on friendly terms). So I don't know if I'll be able to write a new chapter and update tomorrow, since I'll probably be there all day starting at 11 in the morning. But when I get home I should at least be able to start typing the next chapter. Thank you for your patience and understanding! xoxo ~Sara


	7. Chapter 7

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 7

Reading

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus Books as well as the Demigod Files, and The Demigod Diaries. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 6: I Become Supreme Lord Of The Bathroom**

Jason paused while laughter ensured. He took a moment to let ever one calm down before reading again.

**Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper duty in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few time, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.**

The demigods laughed.

**We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's _him." _**

**Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange _CAMP HALF-BLOOD _T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.**

**I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized - four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the base eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.**

**"What's up there?" I asked Chiron. **

**He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."**

**"Somebody lives there?" **

**"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."**

**I got the feeling he was being truthful.**

"He was," Percy and Annabeth said in unison. They both smiled at each other.

Nico scowled before turning his attention back to the book.

**But I was also sure something had moved the curtain.**

**"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lot's to see."**

**We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.**

**Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."**

**He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.**

**I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire.**

Jason paused for a moment. "You have the weirdest analogies, you know that?"

"I know." Percy responded.

Jason returned to reading.

**I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. **

"Not at this point in the story." Percy said, "But later he can.

**I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.**

**"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean . . . he was a good protector. Really."**

**Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle. "Grover had big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."**

**"But he did that!"**

**"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. **

"What's the council of Cloven Elders?" Hazel asked.

"You'll find out." Percy responded.

**I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate . . . ah . . . fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."**

**I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault.**

"No, it wasn't." Percy grumbled.

** I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.**

**"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"**

**Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that _was _Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age. . . ."**

**"How old is he?" **

**"Oh, twenty-eight."**

"What?" The demigods, excluding Percy and Annabeth said.

**"What! And he's in sixth grade?"**

**"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."**

**"That's horrible." **

**"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career. . . ."**

**"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?" **

**Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"**

**But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word _death. _The beginnings of an idea - a tiny, hopeful fire - started forming in my mind.**

"You're thinking about getting your mom out of the underworld aren't you?" Hazel realized.

Leo looked up from his sketches of ideas for machinery. Is it possible... _No, _he thought to himself._ I shouldn't, but mom wasn't supposed to die, neither was Franks mom. Maybe I could find a way to get them out of the underworld. Nico got Hazel out so there must be a way too. But the doors of death were open then. They aren't now. _

Leo put the thought out of his mind and continued listening to the book.

**"Chiron." I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real . . ."**

**"Yes, child?"**

**"Does that mean the underworld is real, too?"**

**Chiron's expression darkened.**

**"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now . . . until we know more , , , I would urge you to put that out of your mind.**

**"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"**

**"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods." **

**As We got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.**

**Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."**

**"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"**

**"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"**

**"My own-?"**

**"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."**

**I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.**

**"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.**

**"Cabin challenges and all that," He explained. "Not lethal. Usually.**

"Usually?" Leo raised an eye brow at this statement.

**Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."**

**Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There was a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.**

**"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.**

**Chiron looked at me as if I had gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" **

"So, Chiron didn't bother to tell you that the weather is controlled at Camp Half-Blood?" Annabeth said.

"Nope." Percy replied.

"When did you find out?" Piper questioned the son of Poseidon.

I think it was my third year there... or maybe it was my second." He just shrugged.

**I decided to drop the subject.**

**Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without a doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen. **

**Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.**

Leo smiled when his cabin was mentioned.

**Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed). **

**In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. **

**The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. It's polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.**

Jason gave a small smile at his cabin's description before reading once more.

**Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.**

The seven, Reyna, and Nico glowered at the book as if it were Hera herself.

**"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.**

**"Correct," Chiron said.**

**"Their cabins look empty."**

**"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."**

**Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?**

**I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.**

**It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and corral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.**

"Were they?" Leo asked curiously.

Percy shrugged in response. "Maybe."

Jason looked at his best friend thoughtfully. Leo was being a lot quieter during this chapter than he was in the previous ones.

Jason went back to reading a moment later, deciding that he would talk to Leo later alone.

**I peeked inside the doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"**

**Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore of Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."**

**Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.**

**Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. **

"Is that the Ares cabin?" Frank asked.

"Yep." Percy said while Annabeth nodded In response.

**Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL _CAMP HALF-BLOOD _T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red. **

"I wouldn't want to stay there." Frank said.

"I don't blame you." Percy said. "I wouldn't want to stay there either."

**I kept walking, trying to steer clear of Chiron's hooves.**

**"We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.**

**"No," Chiron said sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."**

**"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really . . ."**

**He smiled down at me. "_The _Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? **

Once again Percy, Jason and Piper scowled at the mention of Hercules.

**Yes, Percy, I am."**

**"But, shouldn't you be dead?"**

**Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about _should _be. The truth is, I _can't _be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted me my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish . . . and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."**

**I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list. **

**"Doesn't it ever get boring?"**

**"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."**

**"Why depressing?" **

**Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.**

**"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us." The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on then left, number eleven.**

**When we reached her, she looked over me critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.**

The nine demigods laughed at the statement.

**I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.**

**"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"**

**"Yes, sir." **

**"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me. gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."**

**Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on _old. _The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it . . . ? **

"A caduceus." Annabeth supplied helpfully.

Jason chuckled when he read the next line.

**A caduceus.**

**Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over the floor. It looked like a gym evacuation center.**

**Chiron didn't go it. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully. **

**"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."**

**He galloped away toward the archery range.**

**I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, **

"Creepy..." Leo said in a sing-song voice.

**sizing me uo. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.**

**"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."**

**So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. **

"Naturally." Leo said rolling his eyes. "Very smooth, Percy."

**There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.**

**Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."**

**"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.**

**I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined." **

**Everybody groaned.**

**A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."**

Tears formed in Annabeth's eyes. "Luke." She whispered. The others barely heard her. They all gave her concerned and worried looks. Percy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend trying to console her.

**A guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just below his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.**

"How did he get that scar?" Frank said curiously.

"It's in the book." Percy told them. "You should find out soon."

**"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice changed somehow.**

Annabeth from the future closed her eyes at the mention of his name. A few tears escaped her eyes.

Jason looked at Annabeth with a worried expression.

"I'm fine." She croaked, "Go on reading."

Jason turned back to the book.

**I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. She saw me looking and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."**

**"For now?" I asked.**

**"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is god of travelers."**

**I looked around at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also god of thieves. **

**I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.**

"They probably were." Piper commented thoughtfully.

**"How long will I be here?" I asked.**

**"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."**

Annabeth shed a few more tears at the mention of the son of Hermes name.

**"How long will that take?"**

**The campers all laughed.**

**"Come on," Annabeth told me. I'll show you the volleyball court."**

**"I've already seen it."**

**"Come on."**

**She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.**

**When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."**

**"What?"**

**She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."**

Leo raised his eyebrows again. "'The one', Annabeth?" He repeated his earlier statement. They all laughed except for Annabeth who was now glaring at him. She stopped crying after the Luke parts in the chapter had passed.

**"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is. I kill some bull guy-"**

**"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they's had your chance?"**

**"To get killed?"**

**"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"**

**I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was _the_ Minotaur, the same one in the stories . . ."**

**"Yes." **

**"Then there's only one."**

**"Yes." **

**"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So . . ."**

**"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."**

**"Oh. thanks. That clear it up."**

**"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."**

**I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally with a sword -"**

"Accidentally?" Leo repeated.

"I wasn't trying to kill her!" Percy protested. "At least not at that time."

**"The Fur . . . I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."**

**"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"**

**"You talk in your sleep."**

"So not only do you droll in you sleep, you talk in your sleep too?" Leo commented.

"Yeah, why?" Percy looked at the son of Hephaestus suspiciously.

"No reason." Leo whistled inconspicuously.

"Leo, what are you planning?" Annabeth demanded.

"What are you talking about?" He asked innocently.

"Leo." Hazel said warningly.

"What?" The son of Hephaestus said.

Jason just picked up the book and began to read, before their conversation continued any longer.

**"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"**

**Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. **

"I kind of did." Annabeth told them.

**"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly ones, if we have to speak of them at all."**

**"Look, is there anything we _can _say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."**

**I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or . . . your parent."**

**She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.**

**"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."**

**"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."**

**"He's dead. I never knew him."**

**Annabeth sighed. Clearly she had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."**

**"How can you say that? You know him?"**

**"No, of course not."**

**"Then how can you say-"**

**"Because, I know _you. You _wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."**

**"You don't know anything about me."**

**"No?" she raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."  
**

**"How-"**

**"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too." **

**I swallowed my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"**

**"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD - you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."**

**"You sound like . . . you went through the same thing?"**

**"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."**

**"Ambrosia and nectar."**

**"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid.**

"But you gave it to him anyway." Leo said.

**It would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead.**

"Well, that sounds lovely." Frank said with heavy sarcasm.

The son of Hephaestus gasped. "So, you do have a sense of humor, Frank! It's a miracle!" Leo threw his hands up in the air.

Frank rolled his eyes.

**Face it. You're a half-blood."**

**A half-blood.**

**I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.**

**Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"**

**I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.**

**"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"**

**"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."**

_**"Erre es korakas!"**_**Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded.**

"It is." Annabeth said.

**"You don't stand a chance."**

**"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't so sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"**

**"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."**

**I blinked. "Like . . . the war god?"**

**Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"**

**"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."**

The demigods started laughing.

**Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."**

**"Percy."**

**"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."**

**"Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say.**

**"Stay out of it, wise girl."**

"So Clarisse is the first one to call Annabeth wise girl." Piper noticed.

"I never really thought of it before... but yeah, I guess she was." Percy said.

"I like it better when you called me wise girl though." Annabeth told him.

They both smiled at each other and Nico just turned away.

Jason shot him another concerned look before reading again.

**Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.**

**I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.**

**I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public restroom, and I was thinking - as much as I _could_ think with Clarisse ripping my hair out - that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.**

The demigods started laughing uncontrollably.

"You know, Percy." Leo said between laughs. "You really know how to make a serious situation funny."

After they calmed down, Jason went back to reading.

**Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.**

**"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."**

**Her friends snickered. **

**Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.**

**Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head down toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.**

**Then something happened.**

"Gasp!" Leo said, "Something happened!"

"Leo!" Piper scolded.

"Sorry!"

**I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.**

**I turned just as the water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.**

**She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of water blasted them back. The showers acted up too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. **

Laughter once again ensured.

"That was awesome!" Leo exclaimed.

Percy smirked.

**As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.**

**The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door.**

Piper made a disgusted face, "Gross."

"That says it all." Annabeth agreed.

"Sorry wise girl," Percy murmured.

"It's okay, Seaweed Brian. It's in the past now."

Nico looked away from their display and forced himself to concentrate on the book.

**She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.**

**I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.**

**I stood up, my legs shaky.**

**Annabeth said, "How did you . . ."**

**"I don't know."**

**We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled of sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."**

**I probably should have let it go, but I said. "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." **

**Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.**

**Annabeth stared at me, I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.**

"It was a little bit of both actually." Annabeth informed the other demigods.

**"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"**

**"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."**

"That's the end of the chapter." Jason said, "Who's reading next?"

"I will." Piper said taking the book from her boyfriend.

**Chapter 7 My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke**

"Do all the titles start that way?" Hazel asked curiously.

"Probably yes, knowing Percy." Frank replied.

Piper took a breath and began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Sorry for the long wait. yesterday I was once again at my friends house for the entire day, well ... most of the day, the rest of the time my dad had me cleaning the house, so... I haven't really had all that much time to type up this chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 8

More and More Reading

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus Books as well as the Demigod Files, and The Demigod Diaries. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 7:**** My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke**

Piper took a breath and began to read.

**Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth who was still pretty much dripping wet.**

"Sorry," Percy mumbled to Annabeth.

"It's fine." she replied.

**She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.**

**Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.**

**"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."**

**"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."**

**"Whatever."**

**"It wasn't my fault."**

**She looked at me skeptically, and I realized it _was _my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing. **

The nine demigods cracked up. It took a few minutes for them to calm down, before, Piper could begin to read again.

**"You need to talk to the Oracle." Annabeth said.**

**"Who?"**

**"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."**

**I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.**

**I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.**

"Maybe you are." Annabeth mused, "Seeing as your the son of the sea god. They might think of you as a friend."

**I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.**

**"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."**

"Ooh, Jealous Annabeth?" Leo asked.

"Shut up, Leo." The daughter of Athena grumbled.

Percy just smiled at his girlfriends response.

**"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."**

**Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You _are _home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."**

**"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"**

"HEY!" The rest of the demigods cried in indignation.

Percy held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, Sorry."

**"I mean _not human. _Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."**

**"Half-human and Half-what?"**

**"I think you know."**

**"I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did, I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.**

**"God," I said. "Half-god."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."**

**"That's . . . crazy."**

**"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"**

**"But those are just-" I almost said _myths _again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"**

**"Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."**

**"Then who's your dad?"**

**Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject. **

"You did." Annabeth said.

"Sorry." Percy responded sheepishly.

**"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen of heard from him since I was very small. He teaches American History."**

**"He's human."**

**"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a female attractive? How sexist is that?"**

**"Who's your mom, then?" **

**"Cabin six."**

**"Meaning?" **

**Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."**

**Okay, I thought. Why not?**

**"And my dad?"**

**"Undetermined," Annabeth said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows."**

**"Except my mother. She knew."**

**"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."**

**"My dad would have. He loved her."**

**Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father had to send a sign claiming you as his son, Sometimes it happens."**

**"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"**

**Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always . . . Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."**

"Yeah." Hazel said softly. She knew her dad was ignoring her for her own benefit... but still it kind of hurt to be ignored like that.

Frank took her hand to comfort her. She gave him a small sad smile in return.

Piper smiled at their display of affection before returning to the book.

**I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better. **

"They really should." Reyna agreed.

The others nodded their heads in agreement.

**"So, I'm stuck here." I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"**

**"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force, The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year.**** But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave, We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble - about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."**

**"So monsters can't get in here?"**

**Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."**

**"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"**

**"Practice fight. Practical jokes."**

"How could summoning a monster be a practical joke?" Leo asked Annabeth.

**"Practical jokes?" **

"See! Past Percy agrees with me!"

The others rolled their eyes.

**"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."**

**"So, you're a year-rounder?" **

**Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.**

**"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."**

**"Why did you come so young?" **

**She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."**

"Well, that was harsh Annabeth." Piper said.

Annabeth grimaced, "Yeah I guess it was." She turned to her boyfriend. "Sorry."

He just smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Nico just ignored them and looked at the book.

Piper decided to return to reading.

**"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So . . . I could walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"**

**"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give you permission until the end of the summer session unless . . . " **

**"Unless?"**

**"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time . . . "**

**Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone so well.**

**"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"**

**"Ambrosia."**

**"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you _do _know something?"**

"Nope!" Leo said throwing a paper airplane he made. It hit Frank in the side of the head.

"Hey! Watch it!" Frank exclaimed. He threw the airplane off the ship.

"Sorry."

**"Well . . . no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"**

**She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so _normal." _**

**"You've been to Olympus?" **

**"Some of us year-rounders - Luke, and Clarisse and I and a few others - we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council." **

**"But . . . how did you get there?"**

**"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already. "You _are _a new Yorker. right?" **

**"Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out. **

"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth murmured affectionately.

He just gave her a crooked grin in response.

The son of Hades scowled before focusing his attention on the book. Piper noticed his scowl. _I wonder... _she thought. She shook her head and returned back to reading.

**"Right after we visited," Annabeth continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping . . . I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."**

**I shook my head. I wished I could help her, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions.**

**"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm _not _too young. If they would just tell me the problem . . ."**

**I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on, she'd catch me later. I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan. **

"You know," Annabeth commented. "You're a lot more observant that I first gave you credit for."

"Thank you, wise girl."

**Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as trouble makers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn.**

**The counselor, Luke, came over. **

Tears once again began to form in Annabeth's eyes.

**He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.**

**"Found you a sleeping bag," He said. "And here, I stole some toiletries from the camp store."**

**I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.**

**I said, "Thanks."**

**"No prob." Luke**

Annabeth choked back a sob.

Piper looked at her best friend concerned before she began to read again.

**sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"**

**"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."**

**"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."**

**The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy.**

A few tears escaped Annabeth's eyes.

Percy had his arms wrapped around her waist, as if that would somehow protect her from the painful memories.

The daughter of Athena turned her head, burying it in Percy's chest so the others wouldn't see her cry.

**He looked like he could handle just about anything.**

**"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.**

**He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me, but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes." **

**"The wing-footed messenger guy."**

**"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody that uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."**

**I figured Luke**

A strangled sob escaped from Annabeth, who was still laying with her head on Percy's chest.

**didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind. **

**"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.**

**"Once."**

**I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got the scar.**

**Luke looked up and managed a smile.**

Tears began flowing freely from the blonde girls eyes.

**"Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."**

**He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him - even if he was a counselor - should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin.**

Sniffles were heard from the daughter of Athena.

The demigods all gave her looks of sympathy, even Nico felt sorry for the blond haired girl.

Reyna however knew the Athenian wouldn't want the others sympathy. She knew how she felt. She didn't want their pity, so the female Praetor kept her feelings of Sympathy looked away inside of her, making sure that it didn't show on her face.

**He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day. **

**I decide to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth . . . twice, she said I might be 'the one'. She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"**

**Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."**

Another sob came from the direction where Annabeth was sitting on Percy's lap.

**"What do you mean?"**

**His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much that he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until . . . somebody special came to the camp."**

**"Somebody special?"**

**"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said.**

A few more tears came from the daughter of Athena at the mention of his name.

**"Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."**

**The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before..**

**"Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"**

Annabeth let loose some more tears at the mention of her old crush.

**The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but now was starting to glow silver as the sun went down. **

**We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods - and when I say out of the woods, I mean _straight _out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the** **hill.**

**In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.**

"There's a lot more now," Annabeth said, "Since the gods are claiming their children."

**At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had it's own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.**

**I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.**

**Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blonde hair.**

**Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.**

**Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"**

**Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"**

**Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue. My glass was empty, but Luke said,**

A few sniffles were heard from the daughter of Athena.

**"Speak to it. Whatever you want - nonalcoholic, of course."**

**I said, "Cherry Coke." **

**The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.**

**Then I had an idea. _"Blue _Cherry Coke."**

**The soda turned a violent shade of _cobalt._**

**I took a cautious sip. Perfect.**

**I drank a toast to my mother.**

**She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday . . .**

**"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, **

The blonde haired girl let loose a few broken sobs. Percy was comforting her the best he could.

Piper looked at her friend sadly before continuing.

**handing me a platter of smoked brisket.**

**I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something..**

**"Come on," Luke told me.**

A few more sniffles were heard.

**As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.**

**Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."**

Annabeth was still crying over yet another mention of Luke.

**"You're kidding."**

**The look on his face told me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.**

**Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."**

A few more tears escaped the blondes gray eyes.

**I was next.**

**I wished I knew what god's name to say.**

**Finally, I made a silent plea. W_hoever you are, tell me. Please._**

**I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.**

**When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.**

**It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.**

**When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.**

**Mr. D got up with a hugs sigh, "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag if Friday, Cabin five presently holds the laurels. **

**A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.**

**"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."**

**Chiron murmured something.**

**"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."**

**Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sand camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny things was, I didn't feel that anyone was starring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.**

**My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.**

The girls all cooed even Annabeth, who had stopped crying finally.

Percy rubbed the back of his head, looking slightly embarrassed.

The daughter of Aphrodite decided to take pity on Percy and began to read once more to draw the attention away from him.

**When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly.**

**That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.**

**I wish I'd know how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.**

"That's the end of the chapter." Piper announced. "Do you want to read next Hazel? You and Percy are the only ones who haven't read so far."

"Sure." The African American girl took the book from her friend and began to read.

**Chapter 8 We Capture A Flag**

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you enjoy this. Sorry for the long wait. I plan to update at least once or twice a week depending on how much free time I have. It you notice any mistakes in any of the chapters please let me know so I can go back and fix them. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 9

Read, Read, Read

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus Books as well as the Demigod Files, and The Demigod Diaries. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

* * *

**Chapter 8: We Capture A Flag**

Hazel stopped for a brief second before reading again.

**The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.**

**Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache. **

**The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail. **

The demigods laughed.

**Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.**

**And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat Clarisse would pulverize me. **

**"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.**

**The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.**

**I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or - gods forbid - Dionysus's way with vine plants. Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.**

**Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nothing came. Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...**

They all gave Percy sympathetic looks. Leo and Frank more than anyone, having lost their own mothers.

**I started to understand Luke's**

Annabeth's tears once again started.

** bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, wherever he was, make a phone appear?**

**Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.**

Annabeth's tears began to fall faster.

**We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.**

**The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke**

A dry sob escaped from Annabeth once again.

** tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice seemed to work for me. **

"Why didn't Chiron give you back riptide?" Piper asked.

Percy shrugged in response. "I don't know."

**We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.**

**"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."**

Annabeth's tears only came faster.

**"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.**

**The camper snorted.**

**Luke **

Another sob came from Annabeth.

**showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. **

"The hard way?" Frank asked uncertainly.

**With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade, "No, not that far up!" _Whap! _"Now, back!" _Whap!_**

They all winced imagining how Percy must've felt then.

**By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke **

Annabeth dried her tears but it didn't do any good; since they kept coming.

**poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.**

**Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.**

**"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. **

Tears trailed down the blond girls face.

**"If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."**

**Great, I thought, Let's all watch Percy get pounded.**

**The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag.**

The blonde Athenian let loose another sob. Percy being a good boyfriend was doing everything he could possibly think of to console her. Nothing was working though.

** He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.**

**"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."**

**He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.**

**"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"**

**I nodded, and Luke came after me. **

Annabeth was still crying but trying to hold back her sobs.

**Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, **

The daughter of Athena cried at the memories of Luke.

**but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.**

**The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, what the heck?**

Annabeth sniffled trying to get a hold of herself.

**I tried the disarming maneuver.**

**My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.**

**_Clang._**

**Luke's sword rattled against the stones. **

Annabeth wiped away her tears furiously. I'_m a daughter of Athena. I should be stronger than this. _

**The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.**

**The other campers were silent.**

**I lowered my sword, "Um, sorry."**

"Did you seriously just apologize for that?" Annabeth said incredulously wiping away more of her tears.

"Um, yes?" Percy said.

Annabeth shook her head in exasperation. "Seaweed Brain."

He gave her a goofy grin.

Piper smiled at their display.

**For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.**

The sadness returned to Annabeth's face.

**"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"**

**I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted.**

Sniffles escaped Annabeth.

**This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke **

More tears came at the mention of her old crush's name.

**hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.**

**After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"**

**Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. **

A few tears escaped her eyes.

**He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword. . . ."**

**Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms. **

Annabeth's tears had finally subsided for the time being; as Luke's name was not being mentioned anymore.

**We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.**

**His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.**

**"Fine," he said. "Just great."**

**"So your career's still on track?"**

**He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"**

**"Well . . . no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know . . . and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. Do did you get it?"**

**Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."**

**My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"**

_**"Blaa-ha-ha!**_**He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest . . . and even if you did, why would you want _me _along?"**

**"Of course I'd want you along!"**

**Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving . . . Must be nice to have a useful skill." **

**I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally I asked him about the four empty cabins.**

**"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said, "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."**

**"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"**

"Nope." Nico said popping the P.

**Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No, One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husbands job. When we say the Big Three we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."  
**

**"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."**

**"Right. You know. After the big battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."**

**Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."**

**"Uh-huh."**

**"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."**

**"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the underworld. If he did have a cabin here . . ." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."**

"Gee, Thanks Grover." Nico said sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

The other demigods laughed. Hazel took a breath and began to read once more.

**"But Zeus and Poseidon - they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"**

**Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: No more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."**

**Thunder boomed.**

**I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."**

**Grover nodded.**

**"And the brothers kept their word - no kids?" **

"Not really." Jason responded.

**Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo - he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia . . . well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."**

**"But that isn't fair! It wasn't the little girl's fault."**

**Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. hey have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worse monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia.**

Jason's eyes darkened when he heard that. If Hades wasn't immortal... Jason would have found a way to make him pay for what he did to his sister.

** A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill." **

**He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a hoard of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into a pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill." **

**I stared at the pine tree in the distance. **

**The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much. I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?**

"There's nothing that you could have done, Percy." Annabeth told him, "You know that right?"

Percy nodded. "I know that now, Wise girl."

**"Grover," I said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"**

**"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules.**

Percy, Jason and Piper's eyes flashed when Hercules was mentioned.

"I really hate that guy." Percy said.

"Me too." Jason said. "I can't believe I'm related to him."

Piper nodded her head in agreement; while the others gave them curious looks.

"You'll find out later." Piper told them. They nodded accepting the answer for now.

**Houdini."**

**"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"**

**"No. Never. Orpheus came close. . . . Percy, you're not seriously thinking-"**

**"No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So . . . a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"**

**Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."**

**"And you found me. Chiron said that you thought I might be something special."**

**Grover looked as if I just led him into a trap. "I didn't . . . oh, listen, don't think like that. If you _were - _you know - you'd never _ever _be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge.**

"Um, Hazel." Leo said, "Nemesis is the _goddess_ of revenge not the _god_ of revenge."

"I know that!" She exclaimed.

"Then why did you say god?" Jason asked curiously.

"Because that's what was written." Hazel showed all of them the book and the part where she just read.

"Apparently Grover doesn't know that Nemesis is a girl _not _a guy." Leo put in.

Annabeth shook her head in exasperation.

Hazel decided to start reading again before they got distracted once more.

**Don't worry, okay?"**

**I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.**

**That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. **

**At last, it was time for capture the flag.**

**When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.**

**Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her two buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.**

Piper made a look of disgust at the description of the Ares cabin flag.

**I turned to Luke **

Annabeth stiffened when Luke's name was once again mentioned. Percy gave her a worried look.

**and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"**

**"Yeah."**

**"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"**

**"Not always," he said. "But often."**

**"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do - repaint the flag?" **

**He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."  
**

**"Who's side are we on?"**

**He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight.**

"Foreshadowing." Annabeth said in a small sad voice. Percy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend in an attempt to comfort her.

**"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And _you _are going to help."**

**The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded - shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities - in order to win support.**

**Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there was only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff, but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped.**

Piper scoffed angrily at what her siblings were doing.

**Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet. **

**Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.**

**"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound and gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" ****He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal. **

**"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"**

**Luke looked at me as if I were crazy.**

A few tears gathered in the daughter of Athena's eyes.

**"Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here - Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."**

**My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet. like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"**

**We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.**

**I managed to catch up to Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."**

**She kept marching.**

"Well, that's rude." Leo commented.

**"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"**

**Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something. **

**"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"**

A few tears escaped Annabeth's eyes.

**"Border patrol, whatever that means."**

**"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."**

**She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.**

**"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."**

**It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.**

**Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the other swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.**

**There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?**

"I wish." Frank mumbled.

**Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.**

**Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual. **

**Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.**

**I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me.**

**Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating. **

**On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark,**

**"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.**

**Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet.**

"Good think Clarisse isn't here with us reading." Leo commented. "She'd probably kill you for that."

"Probably." Percy agreed.

Hazel continued to read.

**She brandished a five-foot-long spear, it's barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard issue bronze swords - not that that made me feel any better. **

**They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin. **

**I managed to side step the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid as the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.**

**Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric. I fell back.**

**Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.**

**They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.**

**"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."**

**I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both of my arms felt numb. **

**"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."**

**"The flag is that way," I told her.**

"Percy!" Annabeth admonished.

"What?"

"You never give away the flag's location!" She said frustrated .

"Sorry."

**I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't coe out that way.**

**"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."**

**"You could do that without my help," I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.**

**Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've been shish-ke-babbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked y teeth out of my mouth. one of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.**

The others winced at the description.

**Seeing my own blood made me dizzy - war and cold - at the same time. **

Annabeth looked worried at this point.

"Look I'm okay wise girl." Percy assured her. "I'm right here with you."

Annabeth nodded and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

Nico once again scowled and adverted his attention to the book.

**"No maiming," I managed to say.**

**"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege." **

Hazel stopped reading for a moment. "Is that really the punishment for maiming someone at Camp Half-Blood?" She looked shocked.

"Yep." Percy told her.

"They need a stricter and harsher punishment." Reyna said. "I'll mention it to him once we get to Camp Half-Blood, after we stop the war between the camps and defeat Gaea."

**He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans. **

**Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what I had to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly number four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.**

"Wow!" Leo commented seemingly impressed.

**"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"**

**She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.**

**Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke**

A few tears fell from Annabeth's eyes at the mention of his name.

**racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos**

"A few Apollos?" Leo said in confusion.

"I think he meant a few of Apollo's kids." Frank said, "Like some of his kids."

Leo nodded at the explanation.

** behind the, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse. **

**"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."**

**They staggered after Luke,**

A few more tears fell from Annabeth's eyes and Percy hugged her tight.

Hazel turned back to the book and once again began to read.

**but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke **

A sob escaped Annabeth.

**ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke **

Annabeth had started crying once more and Percy pulled her into his lap and rubbed her back soothingly, trying to console her.

**and started carrying hi around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.**

**The game was over. We'd won.**

**I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."**

**I looked, but she wasn't there.**

**"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she's just taken it off her head.**

**I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank.**

Annabeth was still crying silently, taking comfort in her boyfriend's lap.

**You had it all figured out."**

**Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."**

**"A plan to get me pulverized."**

**"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but . . . " She shrugged. "You didn't need help."**

**Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"**

**"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?" **

**"No. It _was _a sword cut. Look at it."**

**The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared. **

**"I - I don't get it," I said.**

**Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."**

**"What-"**

**"Just do it."**

**I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.**

Annabeth had stopped crying once more.

**"Oh, Styx," she cursed, "This is _not _good. I didn't want . . . I assumed it would be Zeus. . . ."**

**Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.**

**The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: _"Stand ready! My bow!" _**

**Annabeth drew her sword.**

**There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.**

**It was looking straight at me.**

**Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"**

**She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her - an enormous shadow with teeth - and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.**

**By some miracle, I was alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned e into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.**

**Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.**

_**"Di immortales!"**_**Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't . . . they're not supposed to . . ."**

"My thoughts exactly." Nico murmured.

**"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."**

**Luke came over, **

A few more tears pricked at Annabeth's eyes.

**the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.**

**Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"**

"What?!" All the Demigods exclaimed in disbelief.

"Percy couldn't have done that." Piper protested.

"Yeah," Hazel agreed, "He was still relatively new to cap when this happened. I doubt he knew how to summon a monster into the camp."

The others nodded their heads in agreement. "Thanks guys." Percy said giving the a smile.

They decided to continue reading.

**"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.**

"Yeah, be quiet Clarisse." Leo echoed his agreement.

Hazel was about to continue reading when Leo interrupted her once more.

"Just curious, how many more pages until this chapters finished?" Leo asked, "Because we've been reading this chapter for a while."

"Only one more." She informed the rest of them. She then picked up where she left off reading.

**We watched the body of the hellhound elt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.**

**"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."**

**"I'm okay."**

**"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."**

**I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.**

**Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.**

**"Look, I - I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry. . . ."**

**But they weren't watching my would heal. They were staring at something above my head.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um . . ."**

**By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.**

**"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is _really _not good."**

**"It is determined.," Chiron announced.**

**All around me campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. **

**"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.**

**"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."**

"That's the end of the chapter." Hazel announced.

"Finally!" Leo said. "So how many more chapters are there now?"

Hazel flipped through the book and counted. "Fourteen more to go."

Leo groaned.

"It's not that bad Leo." Annabeth said. She turned to her boyfriend. "You're the only one who hasn't read yet."

Percy took the book from Hazel and began to read.

**Chapter 9: I Am Offered A Quest**

* * *

Author's notes: Sorry for the long wait. This chapter in the book was longer than the previous ones so it took a bit longer to type it all out. I hope you all enjoy this. :)


	10. Chapter 10

Honesty is the best policy

Chapter 10

I read, you read, we all read

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

Summary: Nico, Reyna, and The Seven get sent to read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus Books as well as the Demigod Files, and The Demigod Diaries. After all in Order for them to succeed they have to all be able to work together. They have to be able to trust each other. And for that to happen they can't have any secrets.

For the people complaining about Annabeth being OOC. I know she is. I wasn't going to make her that way but someone asked me to make her cry every time that Luke was mentioned and I'm what you call a people pleaser. I try to do make everyone happy which obviously isn't working. Fear not! Annabeth is now back to her strong self starting now.

Also super mega thank you's to HoOisawesome . Without whom I would be typing every word of every chapter and this would've taken ages longer.

* * *

**Chapter 9: I Am Offered A Quest**

Jason sat up straight suddenly a lot more interested than he was before.

"Cool!" Leo said sitting up. "This sounds like a good chapter."

Percy continued to read.

**The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three.**

**I didn't have to share with anybody. I had plenty of room for all my stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. I got to sit at my own dinner table, pick all my own activities, call "lights out" whenever I felt like it and not listen to anybody else.**

**And I was absolutely miserable.**

The Demigods all shot him sympathetic looks.

**Just when I'd started to feel accepted, to feel like I had a home in cabin eleven and I might be a normal kid - or as normal as you can be when you're a half-Blood - I'd been separated out like I had a rare disease. **

**Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back. The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that I was the son of the Sea God; and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.**

**The other campers steered clear of me as much as possible. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so my lessons with Luke **

Annabeth felt a pang in her chest at the mention of his name.

Percy shot her a quick too make sure that she was okay.

She gave him a small smile in return to let him know that she was okay. Sure she missed Luke, but she wasn't going to cry about it any more. She was a Daughter of Athena. She had been through Tartarus and back. She could get through this.

**became one-on-one. He pushed me harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise me up in the process.**

**"You're going to need all the training you can get," he promised, as we were working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."**

**Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time I said something, she scowled at me, as if I'd poked her between the eyes.**

**After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest . . . Poseidon? . . . Dirty rotten . . . Got to make a plan . . ."**

"Thanks Annabeth." Percy commented, his voice full of sarcasm. "I'm really feeling the love here."

The others laughed at the comment.

Percy turned back to the book, not before Annabeth gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

**Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill me for breaking her magic spear. I wished she would yell or punch me or something. I'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored,**

**I knew somebody at camp resented me, because one night I came into my cabin and found a copy of the _New York Daily News, _I opened to the Metro page. The article took me almost an hour to read, because the angrier I got, the more the words floated around on the page.**

_**BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSIING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT**_

**BY EILEEN SMYTHE**

**Sally Jackson and her son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned Camaro was discovered Last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.**

**Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons. Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.**

**Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.**

**Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.**

**The phone number was circled in black marker.  
**

** I wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in my bunk bed in the middle of my empty cabin.  
**

**"Lights out, " I told myself miserably. **

**That night, I had my worst dream yet.**

"You really do have bad dreams, even for a demigod." Annabeth said.

Percy nodded his head in agreement before returning to the chapter.

The other demigods leaned forward in anticipation.

**I was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind me. Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.**

**About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting. They looked like TV wrestlers, muscular, with beards and long hair. Both wore flowing Greek tunics, one trimmed in blue, the other in green.**

"Zeus and Poseidon." Jason said figuring it out. Maybe now they would see what all the fuss was about.

**They grappled with each other, wrestled, kicked and head-butted, and every time they connected, lightning flashed, the sky grew darker, and the wind rose.**

**I had to stop them. I didn't know why. But the harder I ran, the more the wind blew me back, until I was running in place, my heels digging uselessly in the sand.**

**Over the roar of the storm, I could hear the blue-robed one yelling at the green-robed one, Give it back! Give it back! Like a kindergartener fighting over a toy.**

**The waves got bigger, crashing into the beach, spraying me with salt.**

**I yelled, Stop it! Stop fighting!**

"I don't think that's going to work." Frank told him.

**The ground shook. Laughter came from somewhere under the earth, and a voice so deep and evil it turned my blood to ice.**

**Come down, little hero, the voice crooned. Come down!**

**The sand split beneath me, opening up a crevice straight down to the center of the earth. My feet slipped, and dark-ness swallowed me.**

"It's not out dad right?" Hazel repeated her earlier question.

Percy shook his head. "We thought it was, but it isn't him."

Hazel sighed noticeably in relief. Percy returned to the book.

** I woke up, sure I was falling.**

**I was still in bed in cabin three. My body told me it was morning, but it was dark outside, and thunder rolled across the hills. A storm was brewing. I hadn't dreamed that.**

**I heard a clopping sound at the door, a hoof knocking on the threshold.**

"That would be Chiron." Leo commented.

Jason reminded himself that he had (and maybe Piper) had to talk to Leo later about what had happened when he was gone.

**"Come in?"**

**Grover trotted inside, looking worried. "Mr. D wants to see you. "**

"Oh, It was Grover." Leo said surprised. "I was expecting Chiron."

**"Why?"  
**

**"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you. "  
**

**Nervously, I got dressed and followed, sure that I was in huge trouble. **

"Why would you think that?" Jason questioned.

"It's Percy." Piper commented, "When is he ever _not _in trouble."

"True." Jason agreed.

"Hey!" Percy cried indignantly, before returning to the book.

**For days, I'd been half expecting a summons to the Big House. Now that I was declared a son of Poseidon, one of the Big Three gods who weren't supposed to have kids, I figured it was a crime for me just to be alive. The other gods had probably been debating the best way to punish me for existing, and now Mr. D was ready to deliver their verdict.**

**Over Long Island Sound, the sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I asked Grover if we needed an umbrella.**

**"No, " he said. "It never rains here unless we want it to. "**

"Oh, this is when I found out about the weather being controlled at Camp." Percy said, "I remember now." He turned to the book once more.

**I pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"**

** He glanced uneasily at the sky. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does. "**

** I realized he was right. In the week I'd been here, it had never even been overcast. The few rain clouds I'd seen had skirted right around the edges of the valley. **

** But this storm ... This one was huge. **

** At the volleyball pit, the kids from Apollo's cabin were playing a morning game against the satyrs. Dionysus's twins were walking around in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow. Everybody was going about their normal business, but they looked tense. They kept their eyes on the storm. **

** Grover and I walked up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had on my first day. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheel-chair. They were playing against invisible opponents-two sets of cards hovering in the air.**

**"Well, well, " Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity. "**

"Oh my gods, Percy!" Leo said in fake girly voice. "You never told us you were famous! Can I have your autograph?"

They all started laughing, but Leo gave them a grin. Jason noticed that is didn't quite reach his eyes like his normal smile would. Whatever happened on the Island did a real number on him.

**I waited.**

**"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle- Beard is your father."**

**A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house.**

**"Blah, blah, blah, " Dionysus said.**

**Chiron feigned interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.**

**"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm. "**

**"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D, " Chiron put in.**

**"Nonsense, " Dionysus said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father. "**

**"Mr. D-" Chiron warned.**

**"Oh, all right, " Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But it's deadly foolishness. " Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do. "**

**Dionysus picked up a playing card, twisted it, and it became a plastic rectangle. A credit card? No. A security pass.**

The demigods raised their eyes at this. What would a god need a security pass for?

**He snapped his fingers.**

**The air seemed to fold and bend around him. He became a hologram, then a wind, then he was gone, leaving only the smell of fresh-pressed grapes lingering behind.**

**Chiron smiled at me, but he looked tired and strained. "Sit, Percy, please. And Grover. "**

**We did.**

**Chiron laid his cards on the table, a winning hand he hadn't gotten to use.**

**"Tell me, Percy, " he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"**

**Just hearing the name made me shudder.**

**Chiron probably wanted me to say, Heck, it was nothing. I eat hellhounds for breakfast. But I didn't feel like lying.**

"Chiron wouldn't want you to say that." Annabeth disagreed. "He'd want you to be honest."

**"It scared me, " I said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead. "**

**"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done. "**

**"Done ... With what?"**

**"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"**

** I glanced at Grover, who was crossing his fingers. **

** "Um, sir, " I said, "you haven't told me what it is yet. "**

** Chiron grimaced. "Well, that's the hard part, the details. "**

**Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together.**

**"Poseidon and Zeus, " I said. "They're fighting over something valuable ... Something that was stolen, aren't they?"**

"Yep!" Leo said tinkering while tinkering with some spare celestial bronze from his tool belt.

**Chiron and Grover exchanged looks. **

** Chiron sat forward in his wheelchair. "How did you know that?"**

** My face felt hot. I wished I hadn't opened my big mouth. "The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And ... I've also been having these dreams. "**

** "I knew it, " Grover said. **

** "Hush, satyr, " Chiron ordered. **

Leo laughed, "I'm going to say that to Grover next time I see him."

"Why?" Frank asked.

"Because." Leo replied still tinkering away.

Frank looked at Leo and Piper as if to say, 'He's your friend.'

Jason sighed internally. He could definitely sense that something was wrong with Leo. Piper could tell, heck, the others could knew it. Hazel commented to the others when Leo was working about how unusually quiet he had been lately and how he didn't make a lot of jokes any more. Frank said that he had noticed this as well. Percy and Annabeth hadn't really noticed anything when they had first returned from Tartarus, but now they were seeing it too.

**"But it is his quest!" Grover's eyes were bright with excitement. "It must be!"**

** "Only the Oracle can determine. " Chiron stroked his bristly beard. "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen. To be precise: a lightning bolt. "**

"So that's what our dad's are fighting over." Jason said. "Hence the title."

Percy nodded and continued to read.

**I laughed nervously. "A what?"**

** "Do not take this lightly, " Chiron warned. "I'm not talking about some tinfoil-covered zigzag you'd see in a second-grade play. I'm talking about a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade celestial bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives. "**

** "Oh. "**

"A typical Percy answer." Annabeth sighed fondly.

Percy smiled at her before continuing the chapter.

**"Zeus's master bolt, " Chiron said, getting worked up now. "The symbol of his power, from which all other light-ning bolts are patterned. The first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans, the bolt that sheered the top off Mount Etna and hurled Kronos from his throne; the master bolt, which packs enough power to make mortal hydrogen bombs look like firecrackers. "**

**"And it's missing?"**

**"Stolen, " Chiron said.**

**"By who?"**

**"By whom, " Chiron corrected. Once a teacher, always a teacher. "By you. "**

**My mouth fell open.**

**"At least"-Chiron held up a hand-"that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an argument. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best, ' Air dis-asters are more spectacular than sea disasters, ' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly-that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws. But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it. "**

**"But I didn't-"**

**"Patience and listen, child, " Chiron said. "Zeus has good reason to be suspicious. The forges of the Cyclopes are under the ocean, which gives Poseidon some influence over the makers of his brother's lightning. Zeus believes Poseidon has taken the master bolt, and is now secretly having the Cyclopes build an arsenal of illegal copies, which might be used to topple Zeus from his throne. The only thing Zeus wasn't sure about was which hero Poseidon used to steal the bolt. Now Poseidon has openly claimed you as his son. You were in New York over the winter holidays. You could easily have snuck into Olympus. Zeus believes he has found his thief. "**

**"But I've never even been to Olympus! Zeus is crazy!"**

The other demigods gaped at him. "How are you not dead yet?" Jason said in disbelief.

"Sheer dumb luck." Percy grinned.

"Percy has a talent of ticking off the Olympians." Annabeth informed them.

Reyna looked like she was about to say something but decided not to. She was going to comment on how he ticked off lord Mars within a week of being a Camp Jupiter.

"That I can believe." Frank said, "He upset my dad the first time he met him, within the first week at camp."

Hazel nodded remembering it as well. Percy decided to read again.

**Chiron and Grover glanced nervously at the sky. The clouds didn't seem to be parting around us, as Grover had promised. They were rolling straight over our valley, sealing us in like a coffin lid.**

**"Er, Percy ... ?" Grover said. "We don't use the c-word to describe the Lord of the Sky. "**

The other demigods nodded in agreement.

**"Perhaps paranoid, " Chiron suggested. "Then again, Poseidon has tried to unseat Zeus before. I believe that was question thirty-eight on your final exam... " He looked at me as if he actually expected me to remember question thirty-eight.**

**How could anyone accuse me of stealing a god's weapon? I couldn't even steal a slice of pizza from Gabe's poker party without getting busted. Chiron was waiting for an answer.**

**"Something about a golden net?" I guessed. "Poseidon and Hera and a few other gods ... They, like, trapped Zeus and wouldn't let him out until he promised to be a better ruler, right?"**

**"Correct, " Chiron said. "And Zeus has never trusted Poseidon since. Of course, Poseidon denies stealing the master bolt. He took great offense at the accusation. The two have been arguing back and forth for months, threatening war. And now, you've come along-the proverbial last straw. "**

**"But I'm just a kid!"**

**"Percy, " Grover cut in, "if you were Zeus, and you already thought your brother was plotting to overthrow you, then your brother suddenly admitted he had broken the sacred oath he took after World War II, that he's fathered a new mortal hero who might be used as a weapon against you... Wouldn't that put a twist in your toga?"**

**"But I didn't do anything. Poseidon-my dad-he didn't really have this master bolt stolen, did he?"**

"No, he didn't," Percy said answering himself.

**Chiron sighed. "Most thinking observers would agree that thievery is not Poseidon's style. But the Sea God is too proud to try convincing Zeus of that. Zeus has demanded that Poseidon return the bolt by the summer solstice. That's June twenty-first, ten days from now. Poseidon wants an apology for being called a thief by the same date. I hoped that diplomacy might prevail, that Hera or Demeter or Hestia would make the two brothers see sense. But your arrival has inflamed Zeus's temper. Now neither god will back down. Unless someone intervenes, unless the master bolt is found and returned to Zeus before the solstice, there will be war. And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?"**

** "Bad?" I guessed. **

** "Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus and Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight. "**

**"Bad, " I repeated. **

The seven, Reyna, and Nico snorted at Percy's answer.

**"And you, Percy Jackson, would be the first to feel Zeus's wrath. "**

** It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky. **

** I had brought this storm to Half-Blood Hill. Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me. I was furious. **

** "So I have to find the stupid bolt, " I said. "And return it to Zeus. "**

** "What better peace offering, " Chiron said, "than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus's property?"**

** "If Poseidon doesn't have it, where is the thing?"**

**"I believe I know. " Chiron's expression was grim. "Part of a prophecy I had years ago ... Well, some of the lines make sense to me, now. But before I can say more, you must officially take up the quest. You must seek the counsel of the Oracle. "**

** "Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?"**

**"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge. "**

**I swallowed. "Good reason. "**

**"You agree then?"**

**I looked at Grover, who nodded encouragingly.**

**Easy for him. I was the one Zeus wanted to kill.**

**"All right, " I said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin. "**

The demigods all agreed with Percy on the last sentence. They'd rather take a quest than be turned into a dolphin any day.

**"Then it's time you consulted the Oracle, " Chiron said. "Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more. "**

"Why is the Oracle in the attic?" Piper asked.

"This was before Rachel became the Oracle." Annabeth explained. "Before Rachel the Oracle of Delphi was a mummy. Hades put a curse on the Oracle so that it couldn't change bodies ever."

Hazel and Nico looked at each other.

**Four flights up, the stairs ended under a green trap-door.**

**I pulled the cord. The door swung down, and a wooden ladder clattered into place.**

**The warm air from above smelled like mildew and rotten wood and something else ... A smell I remembered from biology class. Reptiles. The smell of snakes.**

**I held my breath and climbed.**

**The attic was filled with Greek hero junk: armor stands covered in cobwebs; once-bright shields pitted with rust; old leather steamer trunks plastered with stickers saying ITHAKA, CIRCE'S ISLE, and LAND OF THE AMAZONS. One long table was stacked with glass jars filled with pickled things-severed hairy claws, huge yellow eyes, various other parts of monsters. A dusty mounted trophy on the wall looked like a giant snake's head, but with horns and a full set of shark's teeth. The plaque read, HYDRA HEAD #1, WOODSTOCK, N. Y. , 1969.**

**By the window, sitting on a wooden tripod stool, was the most gruesome memento of all: a mummy. Not the wrapped-in-cloth kind, but a human female body shriveled to a husk. She wore a tie-dyed sundress, lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. The skin of her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles; she'd been dead a long, long time.**

They all shivered at the thought, except for Nico. After all he was used to skeletons in the underworld.

**Looking at her sent chills up my back. And that was before she sat up on her stool and opened her mouth. A green mist poured from the mummy's mouth, coiling over the floor in thick tendrils, hissing like twenty thousand snakes. I stumbled over myself trying to get to the trap-door, but it slammed shut. Inside my head, I heard a voice, slithering into one ear and coiling around my brain: I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask.**

I wanted to say, No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom. But I forced myself to take a deep breath.

**The mummy wasn't alive. She was some kind of gruesome receptacle for something else, the power that was now swirling around me in the green mist. But its presence didn't feel evil, like my demonic math teacher Mrs. Dodds or the Minotaur. It felt more like the Three Fates I'd seen knitting the yarn outside the highway fruit stand: ancient, powerful, and definitely not human. But not particularly interested in killing me, either.**

**I got up the courage to ask, "What is my destiny?"**

** The mist swirled more thickly, collecting right in front of me and around the table with the pickled monster-part jars. Suddenly there were four men sitting around the table, playing cards. Their faces became clearer. It was Smelly Gabe and his buddies.**

The nine demigods gritted their teeth at the mention of Percy's Ex-abusive stepfather.

**My fists clenched, though I knew this poker party couldn't be real. It was an illusion, made out of mist.**

**Gabe turned toward me and spoke in the rasping voice of the Oracle: You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.**

**His buddy on the right looked up and said in the same voice: You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.**

**The guy on the left threw in two poker chips, then said: You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend.**

**Finally, Eddie, our building super, delivered the worst line of all: And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.**

**The figures began to dissolve. At first I was too stunned to say anything, but as the mist retreated, coiling into a huge green serpent and slithering back into the mouth of the mummy, I cried, "Wait! What do you mean? What friend? What will I fail to save?"**

** The tail of the mist snake disappeared into the mummy's mouth. She reclined back against the wall. Her mouth closed tight, as if it hadn't been open in a hundred years. The attic was silent again, abandoned, nothing but a room full of mementos.**

**I got the feeling that I could stand here until I had cob-webs, too, and I wouldn't learn anything else.**

**My audience with the Oracle was over.**

"How long is this chapter?" Leo complained.

Percy did a quick count. "We're almost done Leo."

"Good." Leo said, "Because I'm-" he yawned interrupting himself, "tired. I need a nap."

"I'm not surprised." Hazel commented. "You've been working really hard ever since you returned from the Island. I don't think I've seen you take a break to rest at all."

The rest of the seven looked at Leo worriedly. Percy continued on. As soon as this chapter was over they _needed _to talk to Leo and find out what was going on. Even Reyna and Nico showed some concern for the Latino boy.

**"Well?" Chiron asked me.**

**I slumped into a chair at the pinochle table. "She said I would retrieve what was stolen. "**

**Grover sat forward, chewing excitedly on the remains of a Diet Coke can. "That's great!"**

**"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron pressed. "This is important. "**

**My ears were still tingling from the reptilian voice. "She . .. She said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned. "**

**"I knew it, " Grover said.**

**Chiron didn't look satisfied. "Anything else?"**

**I didn't want to tell him.**

**What friend would betray me? I didn't have that many.**

The rest of the demigods looked at Percy sadly.

**And the last line-I would fail to save what mattered most. What kind of Oracle would send me on a quest and tell me, Oh, by the way, you'll fail.**

**How could I confess that?**

**"No, " I said. "That's about it. "**

**He studied my face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass. "**

**I got the feeling he knew I was holding back something bad, and he was trying to make me feel better.**

**"Okay, " I said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"**

"Hades." Nico said quietly. Every one jumped. Nico had been so quit they had forgotten that the Son of Hades was there.

**"Ah, think, Percy, " Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"**

** "Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.**

**"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath to have no more children, an oath that both of them have now broken. "**

** I thought about my dreams, the evil voice that had spoken from under the ground. "Hades. "**

** Chiron nodded. "The Lord of the Dead is the only possibility. "**

**A scrap of aluminum dribbled out of Grover's mouth. "Whoa, wait. Wh-what?"**

**"A Fury came after Percy, " Chiron reminded him. "She watched the young man until she was sure of his identity, then tried to kill him. Furies obey only one lord: Hades. "**

**"Yes, but-but Hades hates all heroes, " Grover pro-tested. "Especially if he has found out Percy is a son of Poseidon... . "**

**"A hellhound got into the forest, " Chiron continued. "Those can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment, and it had to be summoned by someone within the camp. Hades must have a spy here. He must suspect Poseidon will try to use Percy to clear his name. Hades would very much like to kill this young half-blood before he can take on the quest. "**

**"Great, " I muttered. "That's two major gods who want to kill me. "**

"And that's only my first week as a demigod." Percy said brightly.

They all shook their heads at his abrupt cheerfulness.

** "But a quest to ... " Grover swallowed. "I mean, couldn't the master bolt be in some place like Maine? Maine's very nice this time of year. "**

**"Hades sent a minion to steal the master bolt, " Chiron insisted. "He hid it in the Underworld, knowing full well that Zeus would blame Poseidon. I don't pretend to under-stand the Lord of the Dead's motives perfectly, or why he chose this time to start a war, but one thing is certain. Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth. "**

"No, he didn't." Nico responded.

**A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.**

**I was ready to take him on. **

**Besides, if my mother was in the Underworld ... **

**Whoa, boy, said the small part of my brain that was still sane. You're a kid. Hades is a god. **

"I agree with the sane part of your brain." Jason said. The others nodded their agreement.

**Grover was trembling. He'd started eating pinochle cards like potato chips. **

**The poor guy needed to complete a quest with me so he could get his searcher's license, whatever that was, but how could I ask him to do this quest, especially when the Oracle said I was destined to fail? This was suicide. **

**"Look, if we know it's Hades, " I told Chiron, "why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads. "**

**"Suspecting and knowing are not the same, " Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades- and I imagine Poseidon does-they couldn't retrieve the bolt them-selves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"**

**"You're saying I'm being used. "**

"Yep," Nico said absently.

**"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you. "**

**My dad needs me.**

**Emotions rolled around inside me like bits of glass in a kaleidoscope. I didn't know whether to feel resentful or grateful or happy or angry. Poseidon had ignored me for twelve years. Now suddenly he needed me.**

**I looked at Chiron. "You've known I was Poseidon's son all along, haven't you?"**

**"I had my suspicions. As I said ... I've spoken to the Oracle, too. "**

**I got the feeling there was a lot he wasn't telling me about his prophecy, but I decided I couldn't worry about that right now. After all, I was holding back information too.**

**"So let me get this straight, " I said. "I'm supposed go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead. "**

**"Check, " Chiron said.**

**"Find the most powerful weapon in the universe. "**

**"Check. "**

Leo mimicked as if he were checking off things on a piece of paper.

Nico smiled at the son of Hephaestus' and the shook his head and he turned back to the book.

**"And get it back to Olympus before the summer solstice, in ten days. "**

**"That's about right. "**

**I looked at Grover, who gulped down the ace of hearts.**

**"Did I mention that Maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly.**

**"You don't have to go, " I told him. "I can't ask that of you.**

**"Oh ... " He shifted his hooves. "No ... It's just that satyrs and underground places ... Well... "**

**He took a deep breath, then stood, brushing the shredded cards and aluminum bits off his T-shirt. "You saved my life, Percy. If ... If you're serious about wanting me along, I won't let you down. "**

**I felt so relieved I wanted to cry, though I didn't think that would be very heroic. Grover was the only friend I'd ever had for longer than a few months. I wasn't sure what good a satyr could do against the forces of the dead, but I felt better knowing he'd be with me.**

"Aw!" the girls cooed once again embarrassing the son of Poseidon.

**"All the way, G-man. " I turned to Chiron. "So where do we go? The Oracle just said to go west. "**

**"The entrance to the Underworld is always in the west. It moves from age to age, just like Olympus. Right now, of course, it's in America. "**

**"Where?"**

"Wait a minute." Leo suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Hazel said.

"I thought you said we were almost finished with the chapter." Leo accused.

"Well, now we're almost through." Percy offered.

Leo groaned and sat back in his chair. They were all in a circle of chairs. Frank was on Leo's left, next to him was Hazel. Hazel was right next to Percy who of course was sitting next to his girlfriend Annabeth. Next to Annabeth was Reyna, then Nico, then Jason, and Piper, sat on Leo's other side and next to Jason as well.

**Chiron looked surprised. "I thought that would be obvious enough. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles. "**

** "Oh, " I said. "Naturally. So we just get on a plane-"**

** "No!" Grover shrieked. "Percy, what are you thinking? Have you ever been on a plane in your life?"**

** I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. My mom had never taken me anywhere by plane. She'd always said we didn't have the money. Besides, her parents had died in a plane crash.**

**"Percy, think, " Chiron said. "You are the son of the Sea God. Your father's bitterest rival is Zeus, Lord of the Sky. Your mother knew better than to trust you in an airplane. You would be in Zeus's domain. You would never come down again alive. "**

**Overhead, lightning crackled. Thunder boomed.**

**"Okay, " I said, determined not to look at the storm. "So, I'll travel overland. "**

**"That's right, " Chiron said. "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help. "**

**"Gee, " I said, feigning surprise. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"**

**The air shimmered behind Chiron.**

**Annabeth became visible, stuffing her Yankees cap into her back pocket. **

"Cool," Leo commented, "Do you still have that?"

"Yeah, it's hanging up in my room." She said, "But it stopped working when my mom..." she trailed off, "I'm sure you'll find out in the books."

**"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain, " she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up. "**

**"If you do say so yourself, " I said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"**

**Her cheeks colored. "Do you want my help or not?"**

**The truth was, I did. I needed all the help I could get.**

**"A trio, " I said. "That'll work. "**

**"Excellent, " Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own. "**

**Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.**

**"No time to waste, " Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing. "**

"And that's the end of the chapter." Percy announced.

"Finally!" Leo said happily standing up, "Well, I'll see you guys later there are some things I need to work on for the ship and-"

"Leo," Piper interrupted, "Sit down."

"Why?" Leo asked cautiously.

"We need to talk to you." Percy said.

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this. Please let me know if I can do anything to improve my writing. I think I got all the spelling mistakes but If I missed any let me know, so that I can go back and fix them.


	11. Chapter 11

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 11

The reading circle

Author's notes: I was wondering if you all wanted me to finish the Percy Jackson and the Olympians first then do the Demigod Diaries, The Lost Hero, The Demigod files and then the other Heroes of Olympus Books. Or... do you want me to put this on hiatus and do the House of Hades first. Someone suggested It so I decided to ask all of you before making a choice. But here's the next chapter as well.

* * *

Leo felt his heart hammering in his chest. "What for?"

"You've been very distant ever since you disappeared and all you told us was that you were marooned on an Island." Hazel spoke.

"We've all noticed that you've been a bit ... off lately." Annabeth told him.

Leo sighed and sat down reluctantly. "Do I really have to tell you guys? I mean the books will probably go over everything."

"We'd much rather hear whatever's bothering you from you." Jason said, "Not a book."

"How about we just continue reading the books?"

"Leo-" Frank began.

"After all they'll probably mention it eventually." Leo said. "I'll even read next."

"Leo, this has something to do with Calypso, doesn't it?" Jason said gently.

The son of Hephaestus's eyes widened comically. "Wha- What do you mean?"

The others looked at Jason curious as how he would know that. "I saw how you reacted when she was mentioned before."

"So what if it does?" A defensive edge came to his voice. "It doesn't matter."

"Whoa, wait." Percy said, "What about Calypso? What does she have to do with Leo?"

"You landed on her Island." Hazel stated. She had the feeling that he had met someone during his disappearance. This only strengthened that belief,. The girl he had met had been Calypso. Leo had landed on her Island when Khione shot him off into the sky.

Leo shifted his gaze away from them. "Where did you get that crazy idea?"

"It's true isn't it?" Piper said gently. "You fell in love with her when you were on her Island."

"It doesn't matter." the fire-user protested, "Let's just go back to reading the book okay?"

The others decided to let him be for now. They all took their seats once more. Frank was on Leo's left, next to Frank was Hazel. Hazel was right next to Percy who was sitting next to his girlfriend Annabeth. Next to Annabeth was Reyna, then Nico, then Jason, and Piper, sat on Leo's other side and next to Jason as well.

"Do you still want to read Leo?" Annabeth asked quietly. Leo shook his head. A negative response. "I'll read then."

**10: I Ruin A Perfectly Good Bus**

**Chapter It didn't take me long to pack. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, which left me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.**

**The camp store loaned me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. These coins were as big as Girl Scout cookies and had images of various Greek gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron told us, but Olympians never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in handy for non-mortal transactions-whatever that meant. He gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.**

Piper winced internally, when she thought of their first quest. She had stuffed a whole square of Ambrosia when Jason left to go check out the noise, The others were so going to kill her when they read about that.

**Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she told me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I was sure the knife would get us busted the first time we went through a metal detector.**

**Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green Rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's "So Yesterday, " both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.**

The nine demigods smiled slightly.

**We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.**

**Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stood the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I could only see extra peepers on his hands, face and neck.**

**"This is Argus, " Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things. "**

"Bad pun, Chiron." Leo shook his head and clucked his tongue, pretending to be disappointed in the Centaur.

Jason glanced at his best friend. Leo still seemed pretty upset about the whole encounter with Calypso. The son of Poseidon also noticed. Percy was mad at the gods; Mad that they hadn't kept their promise. He should have known that they wouldn't let her go. He should have made sure that they had let her off the Island at the end of the second Titan's war. No doubt that was why she had cursed Annabeth. She had trusted him and she hadn't been set free. So she cursed Annabeth to feel her loneliness and despair.

** I heard footsteps behind us.**

**Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.**

**"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you. "**

**Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around.**

**"Just wanted to say good luck, " Luke told me. "And I thought ... Um, maybe you could use these. "**

**He handed me the sneakers, which looked pretty nor-mal. They even smelled kind of normal.**

The demigods rolled their eyes at Percy's statement in the book.

**Luke said, "Maia!"**

**White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling me so much, I dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.**

**"Awesome!" Grover said.**

**Luke smiled. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days... " His expression turned sad.**

**I didn't know what to say. It was cool enough that Luke had come to say good-bye. I'd been afraid he might resent me for getting so much attention the last few days. But here he was giving me a magic gift... It made me blush almost as much as Annabeth. **

Jason looked over to see Nico's reaction to the last sentence; but Nico seemed very good at hiding his true thoughts and feelings.

**"Hey, man, " I said. "Thanks. "**

**"Listen, Percy ... " Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... Kill some monsters for me, okay?"**

**We shook hands. Luke patted Grover's head between his horns, then gave a good-bye hug to Annabeth, who looked like she might pass out.**

**After Luke was gone, I told her, "You're hyperventilating. "**

**"Am not. "**

**"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"**

**"Oh ... Why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"**

**She stomped down the other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road. Argus followed, jingling his car keys.**

**I picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. I looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"**

**He shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air ... That would not be wise for you. "**

"Using those shoes would not be wise for any of us." Percy muttered.

The others, excluding Annabeth, who knew the shoes true purpose looked at him with confusion.

"You'll-"

"Find out later?" Jason supplied.

Percy nodded.

The others sighed but went back to listening to the daughter of Athena read.

**I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"**

**His eyes lit up. "Me?"**

**Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch.**

They all laughed at that.

** "Maia!" he shouted.**

**He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.**

Some more laughs were heard at this part.

**"Practice, " Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"**

**"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.**

The demigods cracked up once again.

** Before I could follow, Chiron caught my arm. "I should have trained you better, Percy, " he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason-they all got more training. "**

**"That's okay. I just wish-"**

**I stopped myself because I was about to sound like a brat. I was wishing my dad had given me a cool magic item to help on the quest, something as good as Luke's flying shoes, or Annabeth's invisible cap.**

They all shot the demigod sympathetic looks.

**"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this. "**

**He pulled a pen from his coat pocket and handed it to me. It was an ordinary disposable ballpoint, black ink, removable cap. Probably cost thirty cents. **

**"Gee, " I said. "Thanks. "**

**"Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one. "**

**I remembered the field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when I'd vaporized Mrs. Dodds. Chiron had thrown me a pen that turned into a sword. Could this be ... ?**

**I took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I held a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip, and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in my hand.**

"Talk about coincidences..." Leo said absent mindedly as he scribbled something in a notebook he had pulled out of his tool belt. Jason glanced over the fire-users shoulder and saw that he was drawing dome sort of design.

**"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into, " Chiron told me.**

"Long and Tragic History?" Hazel said uncertainly.

** "Its name is Anaklusmos. "**

** "'Riptide, '" I translated, surprised the Ancient Greek came so easily. **

** "Use it only for emergencies, " Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn't harm them in any case. "**

** I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"**

**"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable. "**

**"Good to know. "**

**"Now recap the pen. "**

**I touched the pen cap to the sword tip and instantly Riptide shrank to a ballpoint pen again. I tucked it in my pocket, a little nervous, because I was famous for losing pens at school.**

**"You can't, " Chiron said.**

**"Can't what?"**

**"Lose the pen, " he said. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it. "**

**I was wary, but I threw the pen as far as I could down the hill and watched it disappear in the grass.**

**"It may take a few moments, " Chiron told me. "Now check your pocket. "**

**Sure enough, the pen was there.**

**"Okay, that's extremely cool, " I admitted.**

The others nodded in agreement.

**"But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"**

**Chiron smiled. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy. "**

**"Mist?"**

**"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality. "**

All they demigods agreed. They had all seen mortals who had done this.

** I put Riptide back in my pocket.**

**For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare. ) I had no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.**

**"Chiron ... " I said. "When you say the gods are immortal... I mean, there was a time before them, right?"**

**"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."**

**So what was it like ... Before the gods?"**

**Chiron pursed his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment.**

"Good to know." Leo said sarcastically repeating Percy's earlier statement in the book.

** It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born. "**

**"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So ... Even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up every-thing, right?"**

**Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure end-less pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is fol-low our destiny. "**

**"Our destiny ... Assuming we know what that is. "**

**"Relax, " Chiron told me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history. "**

**"Relax, " I said. "I'm very relaxed. "**

**When I got to the bottom of the hill, I looked back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron was now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur.**

The demigods snorted.

**Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird to be on a highway again, ****Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me as if we were nor-mal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seemed like a fantasy. I found myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parents' car, every billboard and shopping mall. **

** "So far so good, " I told Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster. "**

** She gave me an irritated look. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain. "**

** "Remind me again-why do you hate me so much?"**

** "I don't hate you. "**

** "Could've fooled me. "**

** She folded her cap of invisibility. "Look ... We're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals. "**

"Well, That's just stupid." Reyna scoffed. "Just being rivals because you're parents are."

Nico gave Reyna a nod. "I agree."

Reyna gave a smile to the son of Hades who returned it easily.

Jason and Percy both noticed. Why was Nico so comfortable with Reyna? Percy himself had know Nico far longer than any other Demigod, along with Thalia and Annabeth. The son of Jupiter didn't know what to think. Was it possible that Nico had told Reyna about himself? That was the only explanation that he could think off.

**"Why?"**

**She sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her. "**

** "They must really like olives. "**

** "Oh, forget it. "**

** "Now, if she'd invented pizza-that I could understand. "**

** "I said, forget it!"**

They all laughed at their exchange.

**In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked at me. **

**Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain.**

**Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with my picture on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?**

**I ripped it down before Annabeth and Grover could notice.**

**Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.**

**I thought about how close I was to my old apartment. On a normal day, my mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe was probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.**

All of them gritted their teeth an clenched their fists at the mention of Smelly Gabe; Even Annabeth who was clenching the book in her hands, while she read.

**Grover shouldered his backpack. He gazed down the street in the direction I was looking. "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"**

**I stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or something?"**

**"Just your emotions. " He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that. You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"**

**I nodded, wondering what else Grover might've forgotten to tell me.**

**"Your mom married Gabe for you, " Grover told me. "You call him 'Smelly, ' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura... Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week. "**

**"Thanks, " I said. "Where's the nearest shower?"**

**"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy-if that makes you feel any better. "**

**It didn't, but I forced myself not to show it. I'll see her again, I thought. She isn't gone.**

**I wondered if Grover could still read my emotions, mixed up as they were. I was glad he and Annabeth were with me, but I felt guilty that I hadn't been straight with them. I hadn't told them the real reason I'd said yes to this crazy quest.**

They all leaned forward, except Percy and Annabeth who already knew the reason.

** The truth was, I didn't care about retrieving Zeus's lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check. He'd only claimed me because he needed a job done.**

**All I cared about was my mom. Hades had taken her unfairly, and Hades was going to give her back.**

**You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispered in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.**

**Shut up, I told it.**

**The rain kept coming down. **

** We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. I wasn't too bad myself. **

"You know." Reyna spoke up. They all turned to her. "In Ancient Greek throwing an apple at a woman is considered a marriage proposal."

Everyone's eyes widened. "So technically Percy proposed to Annabeth when they were twelve?" Piper said for clarification.

Reyna nodded. The two of them just ignored their friends stares.

"I didn't know alright?!" Percy told them.

"But he did technically propose." Hazel said.

"So did you ever answer his proposal Annabeth?" Leo grinned.

"Let's just keep reading." She mumbled.

"Did you?" Frank asked curiously.

"No."

"Annabeth!" Leo gasped. "Six years and you never answered his marriage proposal."

Jason looked over to Nico to see how he was doing with all of this. Nico saw his gaze and just shook his head to tell them that he was alright, but Jason wasn't sure he believed him.

Annabeth quickly began to read again before they could further discuss her not answering Percy's technical proposal.

** The game ended when I tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared-core, stem, and all.**

**Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but Annabeth and I were too busy cracking up.**

** Finally the bus came. As we stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy-enchiladas.**

**"What is it?" I asked.**

**"I don't know, " he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing. "**

**But I could tell it wasn't nothing. I started looking over my shoulder, too.**

**I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our back-packs. Annabeth kept slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.**

**As the last passengers got on, Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee. "Percy. "**

Piper let out a little squeal.

"Piper, your Aphrodite side is showing again." Leo told her.

Piper glared at him as Annabeth began to read once more.

**An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and my heart skipped a beat.**

**It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.**

**I scrunched down in my seat.**

**Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds-same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.**

"Great." Nico said sarcastically. "I hate them."

"You know the furies?" Frank said bewildered.

"I spend most of my time in my fathers' kingdom." Nico said. "I practically know everyone and everything there."

**They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.**

**The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long, " I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime. "**

**"I said if you're lucky, " Annabeth said. "You're obviously not. "**

**"All three of them, " Grover whimpered. "Di immortales!"**

**"It's okay, " Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows. "**

**"They don't open, " Grover moaned.**

**"A back exit?" she suggested. **

**There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we were on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel. **

"Wonderful." Nico commented dryly.

**"They won't attack us with witnesses around, " I said. "Will they?"**

** "Mortals don't have good eyes, " Annabeth reminded me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist. "**

** "They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"**

** She thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof ... ?"**

** We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.**

**Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room. "**

**"So do I, " said the second sister.**

**"So do I, " said the third sister.**

**They all started coming down the aisle.**

"Cause that's not suspicious at all." The fire-user said rolling his eyes.

**"I've got it, " Annabeth said. "Percy, take my hat. "**

**"What?"**

**"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away. "**

"Yes," Piper said. "Listen to Annabeth."

**"But you guys-"**

**"There's an outside chance they might not notice us, " Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering. "**

**"I can't just leave you. "**

"And there's your fatal flaw again." Annabeth sighed. She then picked up the book again and returned to reading.

** "Don't worry about us, " Grover said. "Go!"**

** My hands trembled. I felt like a coward, but I took the Yankees cap and put it on. **

** When I looked down, my body wasn't there anymore. **

** I started creeping up the aisle. I managed to get up ten rows, then duck into an empty seat just as the Furies walked past. **

**Mrs. Dodds stopped, sniffing, and looked straight at me. My heart was pounding.**

**Apparently she didn't see anything. She and her sisters kept going.**

Everyone held their breath and then let it out once they realized that Percy was okay.

Percy felt touched that he had friends who cared so much about his well-being; even if what they were reading about had happened years ago. Most of them hadn't even known him then, and yet they still were concerned about him.

** I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row.**

**The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same-I guess those couldn't get any uglier- but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.**

**The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"**

"It?" Leo said looking up from his design. "The last time I checked Percy was a Person, not a thing."

"They aren't talking about me." Percy informed him.

"Then what are they talking about?" Frank wondered out loud.

**The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right.**

**"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"**

**The Furies raised their whips.**

**Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.**

**What I did next was so impulsive and dangerous I should've been named ADHD poster child of the year.**

They all raised eyebrows at that line, wondering what Percy was about to do.

**The bus driver was distracted, trying to see what was going on in his rearview mirror.**

**Still invisible, I grabbed the wheel from him and jerked it to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the right, and I heard what I hoped was the sound of three Furies smashing against the windows.**

**"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey-whoa!"**

**We wrestled for the wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us.**

**We careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.**

**Somehow the driver found an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads where you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the driver seemed to be veering toward the river. **

** Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake.**

**The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver's seat and let them pass.**

**The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans.**

**I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn't leave my friends. I took off the invisible cap.**

"There's that fatal flaw again." Annabeth commented.

**"Hey!"**

**The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F- math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.**

**Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards.**

**"Perseus Jackson, " Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die. "**

**"I liked you better as a math teacher, " I told her.**

**She growled.**

**Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.**

**I took the ballpoint pen out of my pocket and un-capped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double- edged sword.**

**The Furies hesitated.**

**Mrs. Dodds had felt Riptide's blade before. She obviously didn't like seeing it again.**

**"Submit now, " she hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment. "**

**"Nice try, " I told her.**

**"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.**

**Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around my sword hand while the Furies on the either side lunged at me.**

**My hand felt like it was wrapped in molten lead, but I managed not to drop Riptide. **

"Ouch! Frank winced at the thought.

"Yeah, that about says it all." Percy told them.

**I stuck the Fury on the left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. I turned and sliced the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade connected with her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust. Annabeth got Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold and yanked her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands. **

**"Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"**

"What did he expect?" Leo said. "Did he think it would be cold?"

**The Fury I'd hilt-slammed came at me again, talons ready, but I swung Riptide and she broke open like a piñata.**

**Mrs. Dodds was trying to get Annabeth off her back. She kicked, clawed, hissed and bit, but Annabeth held on while Grover got Mrs. Dodds's legs tied up in her own whip. Finally they both shoved her backward into the aisle. Mrs. Dodds tried to get up, but she didn't have room to flap her bat wings, so she kept falling down.**

** "Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"**

**"Braccas meas vescimini!" I yelled.**

The Roman Demigods: Frank, Hazel, Jason and Reyna burst into laughter. The Greek demigods just looked at them curiously.

**I wasn't sure where the Latin came from. I think it meant "Eat my pants!"**

The Greek Demigods: Piper, Annabeth, Leo, and Nico joined in on the laughter.

**Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck.**

**"Get out!" Annabeth yelled at me. "Now!" I didn't need any encouragement.**

**We rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped my photograph before I could recap my sword.**

**"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our-"**

** BOOOOOM!**

**The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wail from inside told me Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead. **

"Seriously, Dad?!" Jason shouted glaring at the sky.

** "Run!" Annabeth said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"**

**We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead. **

"That's the end of the chapter." Annabeth announced. "Who's going to read now?"

"I will." Frank offered. Annabeth passed the book to the Son of Mars.

Frank cleared his throat and began to read.

**Chapter 11: We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium **

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you all enjoy this. Please point out any spelling or grammar errors that I missed so that I can correct them. Thank you! I'm assuming you all want me to finish this first before I do them reading any of the other books, correct?


	12. Chapter 12

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 12

Reading another chapter

Author's notes: I don't own anything in bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

* * *

**Chapter 11: We Visit The Garden Gnome Emporium **

** In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day. **

The demigods all nodded.

**So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in our noses. **

**Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once. "**

**I was pretty much in shock myself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in my ears. But Annabeth kept pulling us along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better. "**

** "All our money was back there, " I reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything. "**

"Well, that sucks." Frank said, before going back to reading.

**"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-"**

**"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"**

**"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine. "**

**"Sliced like sandwich bread, " Grover put in, "but fine. "**

**"Shut up, goat boy, " said Annabeth.**

**Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... A perfectly good bag of tin cans. "**

**We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.**

**After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to me. "Look, I... " Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave. "**

**"We're a team, right?"**

"Right," Annabeth said softly smiling at her boyfriend; who returned the smile. They were both holding hands. Ever since their trip to Tartarus, they were never seen without the other. They stuck together all the time. The had been through hell and back, literally.

**She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died ... Aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world. "**

They looked at Annabeth curiously. Why would that be her only chance to see the real world?

**The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair.**

** "You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" I asked her.**

**"No ... Only short field trips. My dad-"**

**"The history professor. "**

**"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home. " She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not. "**

**If I didn't know better, I could've sworn I heard doubt in her voice.**

**"You're pretty good with that knife, " I said.**

**"You think so?"**

**"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me. "**

They all laughed at Percy's comment.

** I couldn't really see, but I thought she might've smiled.**

"I did." The daughter of Athena confirmed.

**"You know, " she said, "maybe I should tell you ... Something funny back on the bus ... "**

** Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured. **

They demigods raised their eyebrows at this. Wondering what the sound could be.

** "Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"**

** He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff. **

Annabeth and Percy smiled fondly at the mention of their satyr friend.

**Instead of finding a path, I immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on my head. **

"Ow," Hazel winced sympathetically.

** Add to the list of superpowers I did not have: infrared vision. **

The demigods chuckled.

**After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. I could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food. I realized I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill, where we lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. This boy needed a double cheeseburger. **

"That sounds good." Leo said practically drooling.

**We kept walking until I saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed- down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell. **

** It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like I'd hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for me to read, because if there's anything worse for my dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English. **

**To me, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.**

**"What the heck does that say?" I asked.**

**"I don't know, " Annabeth said.**

**She loved reading so much, I'd forgotten she was dyslexic, too.**

**Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. "**

**Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.**

**I crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.**

**"Hey ... " Grover warned.**

**"The lights are on inside, " Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open. "**

**"Snack bar, " I said wistfully.**

**"Snack bar, " she agreed.**

Jason shook his head at the two of them.

**"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird. "**

**We ignored him.**

"You really should listen to Grover." Nico said.

"Yeah, we know that now." Percy said.

Annabeth nodded her agreement, if they had only listened to Grover they would've saved themselves a whole lot of trouble.

**The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.**

** "Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"**

**We stopped at the warehouse door.**

**"Don't knock, " Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters. "**

"If only we had just listened to Grover." Annabeth sighed repeating her earlier thought.

The others looked at her curiously, wondering what was about to happen in the book.

**"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies, " Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"**

"Well, now that you mention it." Leo said. "I am a little hungry Annabeth."

"We'll eat after this chapter's over." Annabeth told him.

**"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian. "**

**"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans, " I reminded him.**

** "Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... Looking at me. "**

"Creepy!" Leo commented in a sing-song voice.

**Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall Middle Eastern woman-at least, I assumed she was Middle Eastern, because she wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.**

** Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"**

** "They're ... Um ... " Annabeth started to say. **

**"We're orphans, " I said. **

"Nice save Percy." Frank said. He then turned his attention back to the book.

**"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"**

**"We got separated from our caravan, " I said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"**

"Percy, I think you should really leave the plans to Annabeth, okay?" Nico commented.

Percy mock glared at him.

** "Oh, my dears, " the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area. "**

** We thanked her and went inside. **

** Annabeth muttered to me, "Circus caravan?"**

** "Always have a strategy, right?"**

** "Your head is full of kelp. "**

The others nodded in agreement and Percy shot them dirty looks.

**The warehouse was filled with more statues-people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were all life-size. But mostly, I was thinking about food.**

"Of course." Piper commented.

**Go ahead, call me an idiot for walking into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry, but I do impulsive stuff sometimes.**

Leo looked at Percy, "You're an idiot."

Percy glared at him.

"What?" Leo asked, "You're the one who said to call you an idiot."

The others rolled their eyes.

** Plus, you've never smelled Aunty Em's burgers. The aroma was like laughing gas in the dentist's chair-it made everything else go away. I barely noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, or the way the statues' eyes seemed to follow me, or the fact that Aunty Em had locked the door behind us.**

Jason smacked his forehead. How could they not notice that?

**All I cared about was finding the dining area. And sure enough, there it was at the back of the warehouse, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.**

** "Please, sit down, " Aunty Em said.**

**"Awesome, " I said.**

**"Um, " Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am. "**

**Before I could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans. "**

**"Thank you, ma'am, " Annabeth said.**

**Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done some-thing wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly, so I figured it must've been my imagination.**

The daughter of Bellona looked to Percy, "Always, trust your instincts."

** "Quite all right, Annabeth, " she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child. " Only later did I wonder how she knew Annabeth's name, even though we had never introduced ourselves.**

Hazel sighed in exasperation.

**Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.**

**I was halfway through my burger before I remembered to breathe.**

**Annabeth slurped her shake.**

**Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that, but he still looked too nervous to eat.**

**"What's that hissing noise?" he asked.**

**I listened, but didn't hear anything. Annabeth shook her head.**

**"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover. "**

**"I take vitamins. For my ears. "**

"Who takes vitamins for their ears?" Leo asked in bewilderment looking up from his blueprints he had been working on.

**"That's admirable, " she said. "But please, relax. "**

**Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her head-dress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling satisfied after the burger, and a little sleepy, and I figured the least I could do was try to make small talk with our hostess. **

** "So, you sell gnomes, " I said, trying to sound interested.**

**"Oh, yes, " Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know. "**

**"A lot of business on this road?"**

**"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... Most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get. "**

**My neck tingled, as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues. But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled, or even terrified.**

"Medusa." Reyna breathed.

The others looked at her wondering how she had managed to figure it out so quickly.

She began to explain. "The hissing noise Grover heard and the fact that she always keeps her head covered, and the statues all around them, especially the one of the terrified little girl... It all points to Medusa."

**"Ah, " Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face. "**

** "You make these statues yourself?" I asked.**

**"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company. " The sadness in her voice sounded so deep and so real that I couldn't help feeling sorry for her.**

"Only Percy would feel sorry for a monster." Nico said rolling his eyes.

** Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"**

"Yes!" Leo said, "Annabeth's putting the pieces together."

Percy nodded and looked at his girlfriend smiling.

**"It's a terrible story, " Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... A boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."**

"That's BS." Annabeth said standing up. "Poseidon and Medusa met in Athena's temple and he defiled her there."

"We know Wise girl." Percy murmured. He pulled his girl friend back to his lap and rubbed her back soothingly.

**I wasn't sure what she meant, but I felt bad for her. My eyelids kept getting heavier, my full stomach making me sleepy. Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?**

**"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking me to get my attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting. "**

"Yes, listen to Annabeth." Piper pleaded.

**She sounded tense. I wasn't sure why. Grover was eating the waxed paper off the tray now, but if Aunty Em found that strange, she didn't say anything.**

**"Such beautiful gray eyes, " Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those. "**

**She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly.**

**"We really should go. "**

**"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"**

"Set out of there." Hazel said looking anxious.

**I didn't want to leave. I felt full and content. Aunty Em was so nice. I wanted to stay with her a while. **

Nico smacked his forehead. Gods, Percy was so... gullible sometimes.

**"Please, dears, " Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"**

** "A pose?" Annabeth asked warily. **

** "A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children. "**

** Annabeth shifted her weight from foot to foot. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy-"**

** "Sure we can, " I said. I was irritated with Annabeth for being so bossy, so rude to an old lady who'd just fed us for free. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"**

"Well," Leo commented drawing out the word. "You could be turned into statues by her since, she's a monster, A.K.A. Medusa."

**"Yes, Annabeth, " the woman purred. "No harm. "**

**I could tell Annabeth didn't like it, but she allowed Aunty Em to lead us back out the front door, into the garden of statues. **

** Aunty Em directed us to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now, " she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side. "**

**"Not much light for a photo, " I remarked.**

**"Oh, enough, " Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"**

**"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.**

**Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"**

**Grover glanced at the cement satyr next to him, and mumbled, "That sure does look like Uncle Ferdinand. "**

**"Grover, " Aunty Em chastised, "look this way, dear. "**

**She still had no camera in her hands.**

**"Percy-" Annabeth said.**

**Some instinct warned me to listen to Annabeth, but I was fighting the sleepy feeling, the comfortable lull that came from the food and the old lady's voice. **

The Demigods looked anxiously at the book, wondering how their friends would get out of that mess.

** "I will just be a moment, " Aunty Em said. "You know, I can't see you very well in this cursed veil... "**

** "Percy, something's wrong, " Annabeth insisted. **

** "Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"**

"So many things." Leo said still adding to his blue prints. Piper glanced at her friend and saw that he was making plans for a new body, for their bronze dragon mast head, Festus.

**"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.**

**"Look away from her!" Annabeth shouted. She whipped her Yankees cap onto her head and vanished. Her invisible hands pushed Grover and me both off the bench.**

"Thank the gods for Annabeth." Percy said giving her a smile; which she returned.

**I was on the ground, looking at Aunt Em's sandaled feet.**

**I could hear Grover scrambling off in one direction, Annabeth in another. But I was too dazed to move.**

**Then I heard a strange, rasping sound above me. My eyes rose to Aunty Em's hands, which had turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails.**

**I almost looked higher, but somewhere off to my left Annabeth screamed, "No! Don't!"**

**More rasping-the sound of tiny snakes, right above me, from ... From about where Aunty Em's head would be. **

**"Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling, "Maia!" to kick-start his flying sneakers.**

**I couldn't move. I stared at Aunty Em's gnarled claws, and tried to fight the groggy trance the old woman had put me in.**

The demigods leaned towards the book while Frank kept reading, desperately wanting to know what would happen to their friends next.

**"Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face, " she told me soothingly. "Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up. "**

**I fought the urge to obey. Instead I looked to one side and saw one of those glass spheres people put in gardens- a gazing ball. I could see Aunty Em's dark reflection in the orange glass; her headdress was gone, revealing her face as a shimmering pale circle. Her hair was moving, writhing like serpents.**

**Aunty Em.**

**Aunty "M. "**

**How could I have been so stupid?**

Leo opened his mouth to say something before Percy cut him off.

"Don't answer that."

** Think, I told myself. How did Medusa die in the myth?**

** But I couldn't think. Something told me that in the myth Medusa had been asleep when she was attacked by my namesake, Perseus. She wasn't anywhere near asleep now. If she wanted, she could take those talons right now and rake open my face. **

** "The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy, " Medusa said, and she didn't sound anything like a monster. Her voice invited me to look up, to sympathize with a poor old grandmother. "Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this. "**

**"Don't listen to her!" Annabeth's voice shouted, some-where in the statuary. "Run, Percy!"**

**"Silence!" Medusa snarled. Then her voice modulated back to a comforting purr. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer. "**

**"No, " I muttered. I tried to make my legs move.**

Come on, get out of there. Hazel thought biting her nails.

**"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain. "**

**"Percy!" Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled, "Duck!"**

**I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o'clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone.**

**"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"**

**That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he'd miss Medusa and nail me. I dove to one side.**

**Thwack!**

**At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage.**

**"You miserable satyr, " she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"**

**"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.**

"Yeah!" Leo cheered, "Go Grover!"

**I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass.**

**Ker-whack!**

**"Arrgh!" Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting.**

**Right next to me, Annabeth's voice said, "Percy!"**

**I jumped so high my feet nearly cleared a garden gnome. "Jeez! Don't do that!"**

**Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and became visible. 'You have to cut her head off. "**

**"What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of here. "**

"I agree with Percy." Leo said.

** "Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but... " Annabeth swallowed, as if she were about to make a difficult admission. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You-you've got a chance. "**

**"What? I can't-"**

**"Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?"**

**She pointed to a pair of statue lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned to stone by the monster.**

**Annabeth grabbed a green gazing ball from a nearby pedestal. "A polished shield would be better. "**

Reyna smiled understanding what Annabeth's plan was.

**She studied the sphere critically. "The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of-"**

** "Would you speak English?"**

** "I am!" She tossed me the glass ball. "Just look at her in the glass. Never look at her directly. "**

** "Hey, guys!" Grover yelled somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"**

** "Roooaaarrr!"**

** "Maybe not, " Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch. **

** "Hurry, " Annabeth told me. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash. "**

** I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade of Riptide elongated in my hand. **

**I followed the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair.**

**I kept my eyes locked on the gazing ball so I would only glimpse Medusa's reflection, not the real thing. Then, in the green tinted glass, I saw her.**

**Grover was coming in for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low. Medusa grabbed the stick and pulled him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!"**

"Uh oh!" Leo commented. "That's not good."

"Thank you captain obvious." Reyna said rolling her eyes.

**Medusa was about to lunge at him when I yelled, "Hey!"**

**I advanced on her, which wasn't easy, holding a sword and a glass ball. If she charged, I'd have a hard time defend-ing myself.**

**But she let me approach-twenty feet, ten feet.**

**I could see the reflection of her face now. Surely it wasn't really that ugly. The green swirls of the gazing ball must be distorting it, making it look worse.**

**"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy, " she crooned. "I know you wouldn't. "**

**I hesitated, fascinated by the face I saw reflected in the glass-the eyes that seemed to burn straight through the green tint, making my arms go weak.**

**From the cement grizzly, Grover moaned, "Percy, don't listen to her!"**

**Medusa cackled. "Too late. "**

**She lunged at me with her talons.**

**I slashed up with my sword, heard a sickening shlock!, then a hiss like wind rushing out of a cavern-the sound of a monster disintegrating.**

**Something fell to the ground next to my foot. It took all my willpower not to look. I could feel warm ooze soaking into my sock, little dying snake heads tugging at my shoelaces.**

"How nice." Leo said sarcastically. He was still adding things to his blueprint designs for Festus's new body.

Jason glanced at his best friend. Leo seemed to have recovered quickly from his Ogygia ordeal very quickly. Was he just acting, pretending to be okay? Or was he really alright?

**"Oh, yuck, " Grover said. His eyes were still tightly closed, but I guess he could hear the thing gurgling and steaming. "Mega-yuck. "**

**Annabeth came up next to me, her eyes fixed on the sky. She was holding Medusa's black veil. She said, "Don't move. "**

**Very, very carefully, without looking down, she knelt and draped the monster's head in black cloth, then picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.**

**"Are you okay?" she asked me, her voice trembling.**

**"Yeah, " I decided, though I felt like throwing up my double cheeseburger. "Why didn't ... Why didn't the head evaporate?"**

**"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war, " she said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you. "**

"Lovely." the fire user rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to his blueprint. At the same time he was listening to Frank read.

**Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.**

**"The Red Baron, " I said. "Good job, man. "**

**He managed a bashful grin. "That really was not fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? Not fun. "**

**He snatched his shoes out of the air. I recapped my sword. Together, the three of us stumbled back to the ware-house.**

**We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner and sat around it, too exhausted to speak. **

"Killing monsters can be pretty exhausting." Frank agreed.

The others readily agreed with him.

**Finally I said, "So we have Athena to thank for this monster?"**

"That probably wasn't the smartest thing to say Percy." Piper pointed out.

"You're probably right." He agreed.

Frank continued to read.

** Annabeth flashed me an irritated look. "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girl-friend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him. "**

**My face was burning. "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa. "**

**Annabeth straightened. In a bad imitation of my voice, she said: "'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?'"**

**"Forget it, " I said. "You're impossible. "**

**"You're insufferable. "**

**"You're-"**

**"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"**

**I stared at the thing. One little snake was hanging out of a hole in the plastic. The words printed on the side of the bag said: WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS!**

Leo snorted as he continued Festus's new body design.

**I was angry, not just with Annabeth or her mom, but with all the gods for this whole quest, for getting us blown off the road and in two major fights the very first day out from camp. At this rate, we'd never make it to L. A. Alive, much less before the summer solstice.**

Leo clucked his tounge, "So pessimistic Percy." He sat up straighter as if he had just gotten a brilliant idea. "That's what I'll call you from now on. Pessimistic Percy."

Percy just sighed and shook his head.

**What had Medusa said?**

**Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue.**

**I got up. "I'll be back. "**

**"Percy, " Annabeth called after me. "What are you-"**

**I searched the back of the warehouse until I found Medusa's office. Her account book showed her six most recent sales, all shipments to the Underworld to decorate Hades and Persephone's garden. According to one freight bill, the Underworld's billing address was DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I folded up the bill and stuffed it in my pocket.**

**In the cash register I found twenty dollars, a few golden drachmas, and some packing slips for Hermes Overnight Express, each with a little leather bag attached for coins. I rummaged around the rest of the office until I found the right-size box.**

**I went back to the picnic table, packed up Medusa's head, and filled out a delivery slip:**

**The Gods**

**Mount Olympus**

**600th Floor,**

**Empire State Building**

**New York, NY**

**With best wishes, PERCY JACKSON**

"Dude," Jason said in disbelief. "Seriously, how are you not dead?!"

Percy shrugged. "It gets worse as it goes on."

The others looked at the rest of the demigods in the circle of chairs.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Frank said bewildered.

"Nope, I just have a natural talent of ticking off the gods and goddesses."

**"They're not going to like that, " Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent. "**

**I poured some golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as I closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a pop!**

**"I am impertinent, " I said.**

**I looked at Annabeth, daring her to criticize.**

**She didn't. She seemed resigned to the fact that I had a major talent for ticking off the gods. **

"See, I told you." Percy commented.

**"Come on, " she muttered. "We need a new plan. "**

Frank stopped reading and looked at his friends. "That's the end of the chapter."

"Can we eat now?" Leo asked.

The blonde haired girl sighed, "Yes, Leo, now we can eat."

Leo jumped out of his seat to get a bite to eat. The other demigods shrugged and decided to join the son of Hephaestus.

* * *

Author's notes: I hope you enjoy reading this. Do you guys want me to start a new fanfiction with them reading the House of Hades, while doing this fanfic as well? Or would you rather me finish this one first before doing the House of Hades?


	13. Chapter 13

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 13

Reading Time

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

* * *

After eating they all took their seats once more and Frank picked up the book to read.

**Chapter 12 We Get Advice From A Poodle**

They raised their eyebrows at the title, with the exception of Percy and Annabeth, who had been there when this had happened.

**We were pretty miserable that night.**

**We camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.**

Piper wrinkled her nose in disgust.

** We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract anything else. **

Jason nodded his head approvingly.

**We decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take first watch.**

**Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground. Grover fluttered with his flying shoes to the lowest bough of a tree, put his back to the trunk, and stared at the night sky.**

**"Go ahead and sleep, " I told him. "I'll wake you if there's trouble. "**

**He nodded, but still didn't close his eyes. "It makes me sad, Percy. "**

**"What does? The fact that you signed up for this stupid quest?"**

**"No. This makes me sad. " He pointed at all the garbage on the ground. "And the sky. You can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is a terrible time to be a satyr. "**

Piper nodded in agreement.

** "Oh, yeah. I guess you'd be an environmentalist. "**

**He glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is clogging up the world so fast ... Ah, never mind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going, I'll never find Pan. "**

"There are humans that are environmentalists." Annabeth pointed out frowning.

**"Pam? Like the cooking spray?"**

The demigods laughed at Percy's comment.

**"Pan!" he cried indignantly. "P-A-N. The great god Pan! What do you think I want a searcher's license for?"**

**A strange breeze rustled through the clearing, temporarily overpowering the stink of trash and muck. It brought the smell of berries and wildflowers and clean rain-water, things that might've once been in these woods. Suddenly I was nostalgic for something I'd never known.**

**"Tell me about the search, " I said.**

**Grover looked at me cautiously, as if he were afraid I was just making fun.**

Percy shook his head. "I'd never do that."

**"The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago, " he told me. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesos heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep. "**

**"And you want to be a searcher. "**

**"It's my life's dream, " he said. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand ... The statue you saw back there-"**

**"Oh, right, sorry. "**

**Grover shook his head. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive. "**

"What?!" The rest of the seven said almost jumping out of their seats.

**"Hang on-the first?"**

**Grover took his reed pipes out of his pocket. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they disappear. They're never seen alive again. "**

**"Not once in two thousand years?"**

**"No. "**

**"And your dad? You have no idea what happened to him?"**

**"None. "**

Piper looked sympathetically at the book as if it was Grover himself.

**"But you still want to go, " I said, amazed. "I mean, you really think you'll be the one to find Pan?"**

**"I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It's the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world. I have to believe Pan can still be awakened. "**

**I stared at the orange haze of the sky and tried to understand how Grover could pursue a dream that seemed so hopeless. Then again, was I any better?**

**"How are we going to get into the Underworld?" I asked him. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"**

**"I don't know, " he admitted. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office? Annabeth was telling me-"**

**"Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out. "**

**"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me... " His voice faltered.**

"Forgave him for what?" Hazel asked.

Percy shook his head. "You'll find out later in the book."

** "What do you mean?" I asked. "Forgave you for what?"**

**Suddenly, Grover seemed very interested in playing notes on his pipes.**

**"Wait a minute, " I said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp five years. She wasn't ... I mean, your first assignment that went wrong-"**

**"I can't talk about it, " Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he'd start crying if I pressed him.**

"Was it you Annabeth?" Frank asked, "His first assignment gone wrong?"

"No," She replied simply and gestured for him to keep reading.

** "But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."**

**"Well, duh. I'm getting blamed for stealing a thunder-bolt that Hades took. "**

**"That's not what I mean, " Grover said. "The Fur-The Kindly Ones were sort of holding back. Like Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy ... Why did she wait so long to try to kill you? Then on the bus, they just weren't as aggressive as they could've been. "**

**"They seemed plenty aggressive to me. "**

**Grover shook his head. "They were screeching at us: 'Where is it? Where?'"**

**"Asking about me, " I said.**

**"Maybe ... But Annabeth and I, we both got the feeling they weren't asking about a person. They said 'Where is it?' They seemed to be asking about an object. "**

**"That doesn't make sense. "**

**"I know. But if we've misunderstood something about this quest, and we only have nine days to find the master bolt... " He looked at me like he was hoping for answers, but I didn't have any.**

"Of course you didn't." Annabeth said good-naturedly rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

The rest of the seven, Nico and Reyna laughed.

**I thought about what Medusa had said: I was being used by the gods. What lay ahead of me was worse than petrification. "I haven't been straight with you, " I told Grover. "I don't care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother. "**

**Grover blew a soft note on his pipes. "I know that, Percy. But are you sure that's the only reason?"**

**"I'm not doing it to help my father. He doesn't care about me. I don't care about him. "**

**Grover gazed down from his tree branch. "Look, Percy, I'm not as smart as Annabeth. I'm not as brave as you. But I'm pretty good at reading emotions. You're glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he's claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud. That's why you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus. You wanted him to notice what you'd done. "**

The rest of the demigods knew how Percy felt back then, wanting to make their godly parent proud of them.

**"Yeah? Well maybe satyr emotions work differently than human emotions. Because you're wrong. I don't care what he thinks. "**

**Grover pulled his feet up onto the branch. "Okay, Percy. Whatever. "**

**"Besides, I haven't done anything worth bragging about. We barely got out of New York and we're stuck here with no money and no way west. "**

**Grover looked at the night sky, like he was thinking about that problem. "How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep. "**

**I wanted to protest, but he started to play Mozart, soft and sweet, and I turned away, my eyes stinging. After a few bars of Piano Concerto no. 12, I was asleep.**

**In my dreams, I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. Gray mist creatures churned all around me, whispering rags of smoke that I somehow knew were the spirits of the dead.**

Nico and Hazel glanced at each other briefly before the daughter of Pluto began to read once more.

**They tugged at my clothes, trying to pull me back, but I felt compelled to walk forward to the very edge of the chasm.**

**Looking down made me dizzy.**

**The pit yawned so wide and was so completely black, I knew it must be bottomless. Yet I had a feeling that something was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil.**

"Kronos..." Nico said barely above a whisper.

**The little hero, an amused voice echoed far down in the darkness. Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do.**

**The voice felt ancient-cold and heavy. It wrapped around me like sheets of lead.**

**They have misled you, boy, it said. Barter with me. I will give you what you want.**

**A shimmering image hovered over the void: my mother, frozen at the moment she'd dissolved in a shower of gold. Her face was distorted with pain, as if the Minotaur were still squeezing her neck. Her eyes looked directly at me, pleading: Go!**

**I tried to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work.**

**Cold laughter echoed from the chasm.**

**An invisible force pulled me forward. It would drag me into the pit unless I stood firm.**

"That was Tartarus." Jason said softly. "Wasn't it? The pit I mean."

Percy and Annabeth shivered and nodded, holding onto each other tightly.

**Help me rise, boy. The voice became hungrier. Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!**

**The spirits of the dead whispered around me, No! Wake!**

**The image of my mother began to fade. The thing in the pit tightened its unseen grip around me.**

**I realized it wasn't interested in pulling me in. It was using me to pull itself out.**

**Good, it murmured. Good.**

**Wake! the dead whispered. Wake!**

They all sat anxiously, waiting to hear what would happen next to their friends.

**Someone was shaking me.**

**My eyes opened, and it was daylight.**

**"Well, " Annabeth said, "the zombie lives. "**

**I was trembling from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around my chest. "How long was I asleep?"**

**"Long enough for me to cook breakfast. " Annabeth tossed me a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend. "**

**My eyes had trouble focusing.**

**Grover was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap, a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal.**

**No. It wasn't a stuffed animal. It was a pink poodle.**

"A pink poodle?" Piper said incredulously.

**The poodle yapped at me suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not. "**

** I blinked. "Are you ... Talking to that thing?"**

**The poodle growled.**

**"This thing, " Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him. "**

**"You can talk to animals?"**

**Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy. "**

**I stared at Annabeth, figuring she'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on me, but she looked deadly serious.**

**"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle, " I said. "Forget it. "**

**"Percy, " Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle. "**

**The poodle growled.**

**I said hello to the poodle.**

The demigods all burst out laughing.

**Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.**

**"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" I asked.**

**"He read the signs, " Grover said. "Duh. "**

**"Of course, " I said. "Silly me. "**

More laughter ensured.

**"So we turn in Gladiola, " Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple. "**

**I thought about my dream-the whispering voices of the dead, the thing in the chasm, and my mother's face, shimmering as it dissolved into gold. All that might be waiting for me in the West.**

**"Not another bus, " I said warily.**

**"No, " Annabeth agreed.**

**She pointed downhill, toward train tracks I hadn't been able to see last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west-bound train leaves at noon. "**

Frank looked up from the book. "That was the end of the chapter."

"That was pretty short compared to the other chapters." Annabeth commented.

"Yeah, it was." Percy agreed.

"Should we keep reading?" Reyna asked.

"Sure," Jason said reaching for the book.

"I'll read next." Hazel offered.

Her boyfriend handed her the book. She took a sip of water before she began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story ! I've just been busy with some family stuff lately. I'll try to get another chapter written soon.


	14. Chapter 14

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 14

Read

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

* * *

**Chapter 13: I Plunge To My Death**

Hazel took another sip of water before continuing.

**We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.**

**We weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax. I felt that we were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.**

**I tried to keep a low profile because my name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as I got off the Greyhound bus. I had a wild look in my eyes. My sword was a metallic blur in my hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick.**

"You gotta love the mist." Leo commented.

**The picture's caption read:**

**Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.**

**"Don't worry, " Annabeth told me. "Mortal police could never find us. " But she didn't sound so sure.**

**The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows.**

**Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The lit-tle boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.**

**Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone. **

"Was it the Nemean Lion?" Jason said suddenly.

"Nope, that comes later." Percy told them.

They groaned but went back to listening to Hazel read.

**Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. I tried not to drool in my sleep, since Annabeth was sitting right next to me.**

** Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Annabeth and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed. **

** "So, " Annabeth asked me, once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"**

** "What do you mean?"**

** "When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you. ' Who were you dreaming about?"**

** I was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time I'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit. But it bothered me so much I finally told her. **

**Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs. "**

**"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"**

**"I guess ... If he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld. ' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"**

"Because he doesn't have it." Nico said.

**I shook my head, wishing I knew the answer. I thought about what Grover had told me, that the Furies on the bus seemed to have been looking for something.**

**Where is it? Where?**

**Maybe Grover sensed my emotions. He snorted in his sleep, muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head.**

Percy and Annabeth smiled fondly thinking of their satyr friend.

**Annabeth readjusted his cap so it covered his horns. "Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time- "**

"He is not!" Nico burst out. He glared at Annabeth hatefully.

"What?" Annabeth said baffled by the son of Hades' outburst.

"My father in not Heartless." Nico responded. If looks could kill then Annabeth would be long dead by now.

"Nico, just calm down okay?" Reyna said putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She doesn't know about, you know."

Nico took a few deep breaths and tried to relax.

"What don't we know." Jason asked.

"You'll find out later." Nico replied. He gave Hazel a look and she began to read once more.

**"This time?" I asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"**

** Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom. "**

** "What would you do if it was your dad?"**

** "That's easy, " she said. "I'd leave him to rot. "**

They all looked at the daughter of Athena in shock.

Annabeth sighed, "I don't feel that way now... But I did then."

Hazel picked up the book and began to read.

** "You're not serious?"**

** Annabeth's gray eyes fixed on me. She wore the same expression she'd worn in the woods at camp, the moment she drew her sword against the hellhound. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy, " she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent. "**

**"But how ... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital... "**

They all rolled their eyes at Percy.

** "I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist. "**

** I stared out the train window. The lights of a sleeping town were drifting by. I wanted to make Annabeth feel better, but I didn't know how. **

"Aw!" Piper said smiling at Percy and Annabeth, who had their arms wrapped around each other.

**"My mom married a really awful guy, " I told her. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking. "**

**Annabeth kept worrying at her necklace. She was pinch-ing the gold college ring that hung with the beads. It occurred to me that the ring must be her father's. I wondered why she wore it if she hated him so much. **

** "He doesn't care about me, " she said. "His wife-my stepmom-treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened-you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk. ' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away. "**

**"How old were you?"**

**"Same age as when I started camp. Seven. "**

"You were seven when you started camp?" Frank asked in surprise.

Annabeth nodded.

**"But ... You couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself. "**

**"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway. "**

**I wanted to ask what happened, but Annabeth seemed lost in sad memories. So I listened to the sound of Grover snoring and gazed out the train windows as the dark fields of Ohio raced by.**

**Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch, which looked to me like a huge shopping bag handle stuck on the city.**

"Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said rolling her eyes.

**"I want to do that, " she sighed.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"**

**"Only in pictures. "**

**"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years. "**

** I laughed. "You? An architect?"**

**I don't know why, but I found it funny. Just the idea of Annabeth trying to sit quietly and draw all day.**

**Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention. "**

"Burn!" Leo said.

**I watched the churning brown water of the Mississippi below.**

**"Sorry, " Annabeth said. "That was mean. "**

**"Can't we work together a little?" I pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"**

**Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess ... The chariot, " she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete. "**

**"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"**

**We rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.**

**"I suppose, " she said at last.**

**We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.**

**Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food. "**

A few laughs were heard at this point.

**"Come on, goat boy, " Annabeth said. "Sightseeing. "**

**"Sightseeing?"**

**"The Gateway Arch, " she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"**

**Grover and I exchanged looks.**

**I wanted to say no, but I figured that if Annabeth was going, we couldn't very well let her go alone.**

**Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar with-out monsters. "**

"My sentiments exactly." Leo told them.

**The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling, but Annabeth kept telling us interesting facts about how the Arch was built, and Grover kept passing me jelly beans, so I was okay.**

**I kept looking around, though, at the other people in line. "You smell anything?" I murmured to Grover.**

**He took his nose out of the jelly-bean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground, " he said distastefully. "Under-ground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything. "**

**But something felt wrong to me. I had a feeling we shouldn't be here.**

**"Guys, " I said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"**

**Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"**

**"Well, Hade-"**

**Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"**

"I don't know why." Leo said. "But that just sounds very wrong."

They just laughed.

**"Um, right, " I said. "Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"**

** "You mean the Helm of Darkness, " Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting. "**

** "He was there?" I asked.**

**She nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus-the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true... "**

**It allows him to become darkness, " Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"**

**"But then ... How do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" I asked.**

**Annabeth and Grover exchanged looks.**

**"We don't, " Grover said.**

"My father has better and more important things to do than stalk demigods." Nico scoffed.

Jason looked at Nico with a calculating expression. 'Why was Nico so defensive about his father now? Had something happened with his dad after he left with Reyna, Hedge, and the Athena Parthenos?'

**"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better, " I said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"**

**I'd almost mastered my jumpy nerves when I saw the tiny little elevator car we were going to ride to the top of the Arch, and I knew I was in trouble. I hate confined places. They make me nuts.**

**We got shoehorned into the car with this big fat lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. I figured maybe the dog was a seeing-eye Chihuahua, because none of the guards said a word about it. **

**We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and my stomach wasn't too happy about it.**

**"No parents?" the fat lady asked us.**

**She had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much, she looked like a blue-jean blimp.**

**"They're below, " Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights. "**

**"Oh, the poor darlings. "**

**The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave. " The dog had beady eyes like its owner, intelligent and vicious.**

**I said, "Sonny. Is that his name?"**

**"No, " the lady told me.**

**She smiled, as if that cleared everything up.**

"It's a monster isn't it?" Frank said at once.

Percy nodded.

**At the top of the Arch, the observation deck reminded me of a tin can with carpeting. Rows of tiny windows looked out over the city on one side and the river on the other. The view was okay, but if there's anything I like less than a confined space, it's a confined space six hundred feet in the air. I was ready to go pretty quick.**

**Annabeth kept talking about structural supports, and how she would've made the windows bigger, and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for me the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.**

**I steered Grover and Annabeth toward the exit, loaded them into the elevator, and I was about to get in myself when I realized there were already two other tourists inside. No room for me. **

**The park ranger said, "Next car, sir. "**

**"We'll get out, " Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you. "**

**But that was going to mess everybody up and take even more time, so I said, "Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom. "**

**Grover and Annabeth both looked nervous, but they let the elevator door slide shut. Their car disappeared down the ramp.**

**Now the only people left on the observation deck were me, a little boy with his parents, the park ranger, and the fat lady with her Chihuahua.**

**I smiled uneasily at the fat lady. She smiled back, her forked tongue flickering between her teeth.**

"Wait a minute, forked tongue?" Piper said sitting forward in her seat.

**Wait a minute.**

** Forked tongue?**

They laughed while Piper blushed at saying the same thing that Percy thought.

"Oh no!" Leo said dramatically pretending to swoon.

"What?" Piper demanded.

"You have Percy-itis!" Leo said. "You've been hanging around Percy too much, Piper."

She glared at him and Hazel smiled and shook her head before she continued to read.

**Before I could decide if I'd really seen that, her Chihuahua jumped down and started yapping at me. **

** "Now, now, sonny, " the lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here. "**

**Doggie!" said the little boy. "Look, a doggie!"**

**His parents pulled him back.**

**The Chihuahua bared his teeth at me, foam dripping from his black lips.**

**"Well, son, " the fat lady sighed. "If you insist. "**

**Ice started forming in my stomach. "Urn, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"**

**"Chimera, dear, " the fat lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make. "**

"Well, this can't be good."

**She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were fangs. The pupils of her eyes were side-ways slits, like a reptile's.**

**The Chihuahua barked louder, and with each bark, it grew. First to the size of a Doberman, then to a lion. The bark became a roar.**

**The little boy screamed. His parents pulled him back toward the exit, straight into the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster.**

**The Chimera was now so tall its back rubbed against the roof. It had the head of a lion with a blood- caked mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail, a ten-foot-long diamondback growing right out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar still hung around its neck, and the plate-sized dog tag was now easy to read: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.**

Nico rolled his eyes at the dog tag on its collar.

**I realized I hadn't even uncapped my sword. My hands were numb. I was ten feet away from the Chimera's bloody maw, and I knew that as soon as I moved, the creature would lunge. **

** The snake lady made a hissing noise that might've been laughter. "Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"**

"Uh oh!"

**I stared at her. All I could think to say was: "Isn't that a kind of anteater?"**

**She howled, her reptilian face turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, my son shall destroy you!"**

**The Chimera charged, its lion teeth gnashing. I managed to leap aside and dodge the bite.**

**I ended up next to the family and the park ranger, who were all screaming now, trying to pry open the emergency exit doors.**

**I couldn't let them get hurt. I uncapped my sword, ran to the other side of the deck, and yelled, "Hey, Chihuahua!" The Chimera turned faster than I would've thought possible.**

**Before I could swing my sword, it opened its mouth, emitting a stench like the world's largest barbecue pit, and shot a column of flame straight at me.**

**I dove through the explosion. The carpet burst into flames; the heat was so intense, it nearly seared off my eye-brows.**

**Where I had been standing a moment before was a ragged hole in the side of the Arch, with melted metal steaming around the edges.**

**Great, I thought. We just blowtorched a national monument.**

The demigods snorted in laughter. Percy sure knew how to lighten the mood.

**Riptide was now a shining bronze blade in my hands, and as the Chimera turned, I slashed at its neck.**

**That was my fatal mistake. The blade sparked harm-lessly off the dog collar. I tried to regain my balance, but I was so worried about defending myself against the fiery lion's mouth, I completely forgot about the serpent tail until it whipped around and sank its fangs into my calf.**

**My whole leg was on fire. I tried to jab Riptide into the Chimera's mouth, but the serpent tail wrapped around my ankles and pulled me off balance, and my blade flew out of my hand, spinning out of the hole in the Arch and down toward the Mississippi River.**

**I managed to get to my feet, but I knew I had lost. I was weaponless. I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest. I remembered Chiron saying that Anaklusmos would always return to me, but there was no pen in my pocket. Maybe it had fallen too far away. Maybe it only returned when it was in pen form. I didn't know, and I wasn't going to live long enough to figure it out. **

They all caught their breath.

** I backed into the hole in the wall. The Chimera advanced, growling, smoke curling from its lips. The snake lady, Echidna, cackled. "They don't make heroes like they used to, eh, son?"**

**The monster growled. It seemed in no hurry to finish me off now that I was beaten.**

**I glanced at the park ranger and the family. The little boy was hiding behind his father's legs. I had to protect these people. I couldn't just ... Die.**

"Your Fatal flaw again." Annabeth shook her head.

**I tried to think, but my whole body was on fire. My head felt dizzy. I had no sword. I was facing a massive, fire-breathing monster and its mother. And I was scared.**

**There was no place else to go, so I stepped to the edge of the hole. Far, far below, the river glittered.**

**If I died, would the monsters go away? Would they leave the humans alone?**

"Probably." Nico commented.

** "If you are the son of Poseidon, " Echidna hissed, "you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson. Show me that water will not harm you. Jump and retrieve your sword. Prove your bloodline. "**

**Yeah, right, I thought. I'd read somewhere that jumping into water from a couple of stories up was like jumping onto solid asphalt. From here, I'd splatter on impact.**

**The Chimera's mouth glowed red, heating up for another blast.**

**"You have no faith, " Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward. Better you die now. The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart. "**

**She was right: I was dying. I could feel my breath slowing down. Nobody could save me, not even the gods.**

Percy's friends looked at each other anxiously.

**I backed up and looked down at the water. I remembered the warm glow of my father's smile when I was a baby. He must have seen me. He must have visited me when I was in my cradle.**

** I remembered the swirling green trident that had appeared above my head the night of capture the flag, when Poseidon had claimed me as his son.**

**But this wasn't the sea. This was the Mississippi, dead center of the USA. There was no Sea God here.**

**"Die, faithless one, " Echidna rasped, and the Chimera sent a column of flame toward my face.**

**"Father, help me, " I prayed.**

**I turned and jumped. My clothes on fire, poison cours-ing through my veins, I plummeted toward the river. **

"That's the end of this chapter." Hazel informed the others. She passed the book to Jason who began to read the next chapter.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story ! I've just been busy with some family stuff lately. I'll try to get another chapter written soon.


	15. Chapter 15

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 15

More chapters

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

* * *

**Chapter 14: I Become A Known Fugitive**

Jason paused before he continued to read.

**I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation on my way down, that I came to terms with my own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.**

**The truth? My only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!**

The Demigods started laughing.

**The river raced toward me at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from my lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.**

**And then: Flaaa-boooom!**

**A whiteout of bubbles. I sank through the murk, sure that I was about to end up embedded in a hundred feet of mud and lost forever. **

** But my impact with the water hadn't hurt. I was falling slowly now, bubbles trickling up through my fingers. I settled on the river bottom soundlessly. A catfish the size of my stepfather lurched away into the gloom. Clouds of silt and disgusting garbage-beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags-swirled up all around me. **

Piper made a face of disgust at the mention of the trash in the river.

**At that point, I realized a few things: first, I had not been flattened into a pancake. I had not been barbecued. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore. I was alive, which was good. **

**Second realization: I wasn't wet. I mean, I could feel the coolness of the water. I could see where the fire on my clothes had been quenched. But when I touched my own shirt, it felt perfectly dry. **

** I looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter.**

**No way, I thought.**

**I flicked the lighter. It sparked. A tiny flame appeared, right there at the bottom of the Mississippi.**

"That's pretty cool." Leo admitted. "I wonder if I'd be able to do that..."

**I grabbed a soggy hamburger wrapper out of the current and immediately the paper turned dry. I lit it with no problem. As soon as I let it go, the flames sputtered out. The wrapper turned back into a slimy rag. Weird. **

**But the strangest thought occurred to me only last: I was breathing. I was underwater, and I was breathing normally. **

** I stood up, thigh-deep in mud. My legs felt shaky. My hands trembled. I should've been dead. The fact that I wasn't seemed like ... Well, a miracle. I imagined a woman's voice, a voice that sounded a bit like my mother: Percy, what do you say?**

**"Um ... Thanks. " Underwater, I sounded like I did on recordings, like a much older kid. "Thank you ... Father. "**

**No response. Just the dark drift of garbage downriver, the enormous catfish gliding by, the flash of sunset on the water's surface far above, turning everything the color of butterscotch. **

**Why had Poseidon saved me? The more I thought about it, the more ashamed I felt. So I'd gotten lucky a few times before. Against a thing like the Chimera, I had never stood a chance. Those poor people in the Arch were probably toast. I couldn't protect them. I was no hero. Maybe I should just stay down here with the catfish, join the bottom feeders. **

The other demigods shot Percy sympathetic looks.

** Fump-fump-fump. A riverboat's paddlewheel churned above me, swirling the silt around. **

**There, not five feet in front of me, was my sword, its gleaming bronze hilt sticking up in the mud. **

**I heard that woman's voice again: Percy, take the sword. Your father believes in you. This time, I knew the voice wasn't in my head. I wasn't imagining it. Her words seemed to come from everywhere, rippling through the water like dolphin sonar. **

**"Where are you?" I called aloud.**

**Then, through the gloom, I saw her-a woman the color of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like mine.**

**A lump formed in my throat. I said, "Mom?"**

**No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hope-less as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica. **

** "What?"**

Annabeth shook her head and mumbled something that sounded a lot like 'Seaweed Brain."

**It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence. **

** "But ... " I was sure this woman was my mother, or a vision of her, anyway. "Who-how did you-"**

** There was so much I wanted to ask, the words jammed up in my throat. **

** I cannot stay, brave one, the woman said. She reached out, and I felt the current brush my face like a caress. You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts... **

"What gifts?" Reyna asked.

The others had almost forgotten that Reyna was there. She hadn't said anything for a couple of chapters.

**Her voice faded.**

**"Gifts?" I asked. "What gifts? Wait!"**

**She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. If it was my mother, I had lost her again.**

They all felt sympathetic towards the son of Poseidon.

**I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning. **

**Your father believes in you, she had said.**

**She'd also called me brave ... Unless she was talking to the catfish.**

A few laughs sounded from the demigods.

** I waded toward Riptide and grabbed it by the hilt. The Chimera might still be up there with its snaky, fat mother, waiting to finish me off. At the very least, the mortal police would be arriving, trying to figure out who had blown a hole in the Arch. If they found me, they'd have some questions. **

**I capped my sword, stuck the ballpoint pen in my pocket. "Thank you, Father, " I said again to the dark water. **

**Then I kicked up through the muck and swam for the surface.**

**I came ashore next to a floating McDonald's.**

Nico perked up at the mention of his favorite fast food place.

** A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve. **

** A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river. "**

**"That's nice, dear, " her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.**

**"But he's dry!"**

**"That's nice, dear. "**

"Mortals," Leo commented rolling his eyes.

Jason glanced over at Leo. He seemed to be doing better... but looks could be deceiving. And Nico... Was he really okay? Were they both okay? Or was it all just another act?

**A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch. "**

** Survivors. I felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. I hoped Annabeth and Grover were okay.**

**I tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.**

**"... An adolescent boy, " another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ... "**

** I backed away, trying to keep my head down. I had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.**

**I'd almost lost hope of ever finding Annabeth and Grover when a familiar voice bleated, "Perrr-cy!"**

**I turned and got tackled by Grover's bear hug-or goat hug. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"**

"We really did." Annabeth told them all.

**Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see me. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"**

** "I sort of fell. "**

**"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"**

**Behind us, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. I recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-"**

**"Okay, ma'am, " the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in. "**

**"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared. " Then she saw me. "There he is! That's the boy!"**

**I turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Grover after me. We disappeared into the crowd. **

** "What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"**

"Yep!" Leo said absentmindedly adding more to his design for Festus's new body.

** I told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, my high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message. **

** "Whoa, " said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad. "**

**Before Annabeth could respond, we passed another reporter doing a news break, and I almost froze in my tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson. "**

"You just have the worst luck, Percy." Frank commented.

"I really do." The son of Poseidon agreed.

Annabeth nodded in affirmation.

**We ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.**

**"First things first, " I told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"**

**Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station with-out getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind us.**

"That's the end." Jason said.

"Of the book?" Leo questioned.

"Of the chapter." Jason replied handing the book to his best friend.

Leo sighed. Then he took a deep breath and began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story! I've just been busy with some family stuff lately. I'll try to get another chapter written soon.


	16. Chapter 16

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 16

So many books, so little time

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan. The title of this chapter is a quote by Frank Zappa.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible.

* * *

**Chapter 15: A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers **

Leo raised an eyebrow at the title before he continued to read.

**The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious.**

** "Let's try to contact Chiron, " Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit. "**

**"We can't use phones, right?"**

**"I'm not talking about phones. "**

**We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city. **

** Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were three adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good. **

"Probably." Annabeth agreed.

** "What exactly are we doing?" I asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.**

** "It's seventy-five cents, " he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"**

**"Don't look at me, " she said. "The dining car wiped me out. "**

** I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place. **

** "Excellent, " Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping. "**

** "What are you talking about?"**

**He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing. "**

**"Instant messaging?"**

** "Iris-messaging, " Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods. "**

"Cool." Jason commented. If only Leo, Piper, and he had known about this before. It would have come in handy on their first quest. They could've contacted Annabeth, and or camp whenever to keep them updated on everything.

**"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"**

** Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow. "**

**Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.**

**Annabeth held her palm out to me. "Drachma, please. "**

** I handed it over.**

**She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering. "**

**She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.**

**"Half-Blood Hill, " Annabeth requested.**

**For a moment, nothing happened. **

**Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy- haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow. **

"That's Luke right?" Jason said looking to the daughter of Athena.

Annabeth nodded in affirmation.

** "Luke!" I called. **

** He turned, eyes wide. I could swear he was standing three feet in front of me through a screen of mist, except I could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow. **

** "Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"**

**"We're ... Uh ... Fine, " Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought-Chiron-I mean-"**

**"He's down at the cabins. " Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"**

**"I'm right here, " Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"**

"Nothing good, I'm guessing." Leo commented as he began to sketch out another blueprint, while reading at the same time.

** Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement. **

** "Chiron had to-what's that noise?" Luke yelled.**

**"I'll take care of it. '" Annabeth yelled back, looking very relieved to have an excuse to get out of sight. "Grover, come on!**

**"What?" Grover said. "But-"**

**"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered.**

**Grover muttered something about girls being harder to understand than the Oracle at Delphi, then he handed me the spray gun and followed Annabeth. **

The guys all nodded their heads in agreement.

** I readjusted the hose so I could keep the rainbow going and still see Luke. **

** "Chiron had to break up a fight, " Luke shouted to me over the music. "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're still not sure how-probably the same scumbag who sum-moned the hellhound. Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus. "**

**I shuddered to think that Clarisse's cabin would ever be on my dad's side for anything. In the next stall, I heard Annabeth and some guy arguing with each other, then the music's volume decreased drastically.**

"What did you do to get them to turn down the music, Annabeth?" Piper asked.

"That's my little secret." She said with a smile.

**"So what's your status?" Luke asked me. "Chiron will be sorry he missed you. "**

**I told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. It felt so good to see him, to feel like I was back at camp even for a few minutes, that I didn't realize how long I had talked until the beeper went off on the spray machine, and I realized I only had one more minute before the water shut off. **

** "I wish I could be there, " Luke told me. "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen ... It had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was there at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him. "**

Nico glared at the book as if it was Luke.

** "But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly. "**

**"That's true, " Luke said, looking troubled. "Still ... Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible. "**

**We were both silent, until Luke seemed to realize what he'd said.**

**"Oh, hey," he protested. "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never ... I mean, she's like a little sister to me."**

"Got that right." The daughter of Athena said.

**I wondered if Annabeth would like that description. In the stall next to us, the music stopped completely. A man screamed in terror, car doors slammed, and the Lincoln peeled out of the car wash. **

** "You'd better go see what that was, " Luke said. "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good. "**

**"Oh ... Uh, yeah!" I tried not to sound like a guilty liar. "Yeah, they've come in handy. "**

**"Really?" He grinned. "They fit and everything?"**

**The water shut off. The mist started to evaporate.**

**"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver, " Luke called, his voice getting fainter. "And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just-"**

**But the mist was gone, and Luke's image faded to nothing. I was alone in a wet, empty car wash stall.**

"That's nice." Leo said before going back to reading.

**Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laugh-ing, but stopped when they saw my face. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"**

** "Not much, " I lied, my stomach feeling as empty as a Big Three cabin. "Come on, let's find some dinner. "**

**A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas. **

**Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"**

**I said, "We, um, want to order dinner. "**

**"You kids have money to pay for it?"**

**Grover's lower lip quivered. I was afraid he would start bleating, or worse, start eating the linoleum. Annabeth looked ready to pass out from hunger.**

The other demigods looked empathetically at the book as if it were Grover, Annabeth, and Percy itself.

**I was trying to think up a sob story for the waitress when a rumble shook the whole building; a motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up to the curb. **

** All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The seat was leather-but leather that looked like ... Well, Caucasian human skin. **

**The guy on the bike would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red wraparound shades, and he had the cruelest, most brutal face I'd ever seen- handsome, I guess, but wicked-with an oily black crew cut and cheeks that were scarred from many, many fights. The weird thing was, I felt like I'd seen his face somewhere before. **

**As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were hyp-notized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their conversa-tions. The waitress blinked, as if somebody had just pressed the rewind button on her brain. She asked us again, "You kids have money to pay for it?"**

**The biker said, "It's on me. " He slid into our booth, which was way too small for him, and crowded Annabeth against the window. **

"Is that who I think it is?" Frank groaned.

"I don't know." Percy said, "Who do you think it is?"

"Ares, the Greek version of my dad."

"Then you'd be correct."

** He looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"**

**He pointed at her, and she stiffened. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.**

**The biker looked at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the red shades, but bad feelings started boiling in my stomach. Anger, resentment, bitterness. I wanted to hit a wall. I wanted to pick a fight with somebody. Who did this guy think he was?**

**He gave me a wicked grin. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"**

**I should've been surprised, or scared, but instead I felt like I was looking at my stepdad, Gabe. I wanted to rip this guy's head off. "What's it to you?"**

"Dude, seriously!" Jason said, "How are you not dead?"

"I told you," Percy smirked. "It's a gift."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

**Annabeth's eyes flashed me a warning. "Percy, this is-"**

** The biker raised his hand.**

**"S'okay, " he said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"**

**Then it struck me why this guy looked familiar. He had the same vicious sneer as some of the kids at Camp Half-Blood, the ones from cabin five.**

**"You're Clarisse's dad, " I said. "Ares, god of war. "**

**Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear. "**

**"She was asking for it. "**

"Yes, she was." Leo agreed adding more to his new blueprint.

**"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for-I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you. "**

**The waitress came back with heaping trays of food-cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.**

**Ares handed her a few gold drachmas.**

**She looked nervously at the coins. "But, these aren't... "**

**Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"**

**The waitress swallowed, then left with the gold.**

**"You can't do that, " I told Ares. "You can't just threaten people with a knife. "**

Frank shook his head at his fathers actions.

**Ares laughed. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor. "**

**What favor could I do for a god?"**

**"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... Date with my girl-friend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me. "**

**"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"**

**The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter.**

**"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you. "**

"That was low." Leo said, still drawing his blueprints.

**I wanted to punch this guy, but somehow, I knew he was waiting for that. Ares's power was causing my anger. He'd love it if I attacked. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.**

**"We're not interested, " I said. "We've already got a quest. "**

**Ares's fiery eyes made me see things I didn't want to see-blood and smoke and corpses on the battlefield. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful ... " He licked his lips, as if the very thought of the master bolt made him hungry. "Well ... If I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath. "**

**"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"**

**"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest. "**

**"Thanks, " I grumbled.**

**"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends. "**

**"We're doing fine on our own. "**

The other demigods raised their eyebrows as if to say, 'Really?'

**"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom. "**

**"My mom?"**

**He grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride. "**

**"What interrupted your date?" I asked. "Something scare you off?"**

**Ares bared his teeth, but I'd seen his threatening look before on Clarisse. There was something false about it, almost like he was nervous.**

**"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me. "**

**After that I must have fainted, or fallen into a trance, because when I opened my eyes again, Ares was gone. I might've thought the conversation had been a dream, but Annabeth and Grover's expressions told me otherwise.**

"I didn't really care whether I disappointed him or not. I just did it to get information about my mother." Percy informed the rest of the demigods.

** "Not good, " Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good. "**

** I stared out the window. The motorcycle had disap-peared. **

** Did Ares really know something about my mom, or was he just playing with me? Now that he was gone, all the anger had drained out of me. I realized Ares must love to mess with people's emotions. That was his power-crank-ing up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think. **

** "It's probably some kind of trick, " I said. "Forget Ares. Let's just go. "**

**"We can't, " Annabeth said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent. "**

**I looked down at my cheeseburger, which suddenly didn't seem so appetizing. "Why does he need us?"**

**"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains, " Annabeth said. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes. "**

The demigods all nodded in agreement with the statement.

** "But this water park ... He acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?"**

**Annabeth and Grover glanced nervously at each other.**

**Annabeth said, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out. "**

**The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WAT R A D.**

**The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry waterslides and tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around the asphalt. With night coming on, the place looked sad and creepy.**

**"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date, " I said, staring up at the barbed wire, "I'd hate to see what she looks like. "**

Piper looked at Percy. "You know that's my mother you're talking about, right?"

"I know that." Percy replied. "I just didn't know that at the moment. Annabeth should tell me soon in the book."

**"Percy, " Annabeth warned. "Be more respectful. "**

**"Why? I thought you hated Ares. "**

**"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very tempera-mental. "**

**"You don't want to insult her looks, " Grover added.**

**"Who is she? Echidna?"**

**"No, Aphrodite, " Grover said, a little dreamily. "Goddess of love. "**

"Well, Grover told me." Percy corrected himself.

**"I thought she was married to somebody, " I said. "Hephaestus. "**

**"What's your point?" he asked.**

**"Oh. " I suddenly felt the need to change the subject. "So how do we get in?"**

**"Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings.**

**He flew over the fence, did an unintended somersault in midair, then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side. He dusted off his jeans, as if he'd planned the whole thing. "You guys coming?"**

**Annabeth and I had to climb the old-fashioned way, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top.**

**The shadows grew long as we walked through the park, checking out the attractions. There was Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?**

"What weird names for water park rides." Hazel commented.

**No monsters came to get us. Nothing made the slight-est noise.**

**We found a souvenir shop that had been left open. Merchandise still lined the shelves: snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of-**

**"Clothes, " Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes. "**

**"Yeah, " I said. "But you can't just-"**

**"Watch me. "**

**She snatched an entire row of stuff of the racks and disappeared into the changing room. A few minutes later she came out in Waterland flower-print shorts, a big red Waterland T-shirt, and commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A Waterland backpack was slung over her shoulder, obviously stuffed with more goodies.**

**"What the heck. " Grover shrugged. Soon, all three of us were decked out like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park. **

Frank was reminded of the time when he did the same thing not too long ago, when he, Percy and Coach Hedge went to the aquarium and met Ketos, and Phorcys.

**We continued searching for the Tunnel of Love. I got the feeling that the whole park was holding its breath. "So Ares and Aphrodite, " I said, to keep my mind off the growing dark, "they have a thing going?"**

**"That's old gossip, Percy, " Annabeth told me. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip. "**

**"What about Aphrodite's husband?"**

**"Well, you know, " she said. "Hephaestus. The black-smith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"**

**"She likes bikers."**

**"Whatever."**

**"Hephaestus knows?" **

"Yep." Leo said once more still adding to his blueprint. Though how he could read and draw at the same time Jason didn't know.

**"Oh, sure," ****Annabeth said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a ****golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to e****mbarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like ..." She stopped, looking ****straight ahead. "Like that."**

**In front of us was an empty pool that would've been awesome for skateboarding. It was at least f****ifty yards across and shaped like a bowl.**

**Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guard with wings spread and bows ready ****to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, probably where the water flowed into ****when the pool was full. The sign above it read, THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR ****PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!**

**Grover crept toward the edge. "Guys, look." **

The demigods leaned forward as they listened to Leo read; wondering what would happen next.

**Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, was Ares's ****shield, a polished circle of bronze.**

**"This is too easy," I said. "So we just walk down there and get it?" Annabeth ran her fingers ****along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.**

**"There's a Greek letter carved here," she said. "Eta. I wonder ..."**

**"Grover," I said, "you smell any monsters?"**

**He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."**

**"Nothing—like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?" **

"Percy!" Hazel, Piper, and Annabeth exclaimed in shock.

"Sorry, sorry!" he held up his hands in surrender.

**Grover looked hurt. "I told you, that was underground."**

**"Okay, I'm sorry." I took a deep breath. "I'm going down there."**

**"I'll go with you." Grover didn't sound too enthusiastic, but I got the feeling he was trying to ****make up for what had happened in St. Louis.**

**"No," I told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ****ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong." Grover ****puffed up his chest a little. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"**

**"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me—"**

**"Are you kidding?" She looked at me as if I'd just dropped from the moon. Her cheeks were bright red. **

**"What's the problem now?" I demanded.**

**"Me, go with you to the ... the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"**

The guys just rolled their eyes.

**"Who's going to see you?" But my face was burning now, too. Leave it to a girl to make ****everything complicated. "Fine," I told her. "I'll do it myself." But when I started down the side of ****the pool, she followed me, muttering about how boys always messed things up. We reached the ****boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a lady's silk scarf. I tried to imagine ****Ares and Aphrodite here, a couple of gods meeting in a junked-out amusement-park ride. Why? ****Then I noticed something I hadn't seen from up top: mirrors all the way around the rim of the ****pool, facing this spot. We could see ourselves no matter which direction we looked. That must be ****it. While Ares and Aphrodite were smooching with each other they could look at their favorite ****people: themselves.**

**I picked up the scarf. It shimmered pink, and the perfume was indescribable—rose, or mountain laurel. Something good. I smiled, a little dreamy, and was about to rub the scarf against my cheek when Annabeth ripped it out of my hand and stuffed it in her pocket. "Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic."**

"Why Annabeth?" Leo said wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Jealous?"

Annabeth scoffed as if to say, 'As if.'

They others just silently laughed at Annabeth's reaction.

**"What?"**

**"Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here." The moment I touched the shield, I ****knew we were in trouble. My hand broke through something that had been connecting it to the ****dashboard. A cobweb, I thought, but then I looked at a strand of it on my palm and saw it was s****ome kind of metal filament, so fine it was almost invisible. A trip wire.**

**"Wait," Annabeth said.**

**"Too late."**

**"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap." Noise erupted ****all around us, of a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool were turning into one giant machine.**

**Grover yelled, "Guys!"**

**Up on the rim, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. Before I could suggest taking cover, they shot, but not at us. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net. **

"That doesn't sound good." Leo said before going back to reading.

**"We have to get out, " I said.**

**"Duh!" Annabeth said.**

**I grabbed the shield and we ran, but going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as going down.**

**"Come on!" Grover shouted.**

**He was trying to hold open a section of the net for us, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap around his hands.**

**The Cupids' heads popped open. Out came video cam-eras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty- nine seconds, fifty-eight ... "**

**"Hephaestus!" Annabeth screamed. "I'm so stupid. ' Eta is H. ' He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"**

"Wonderful." Leo said, his voice full of sarcasm.

**We'd almost made it to the rim when the row of mir-rors opened like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic ... Things poured out. **

** Annabeth screamed. **

** It was an army of wind-up creepy-crawlies: bronze-gear bodies, spindly legs, little pincer mouths, all scuttling toward us in a wave of clacking, whirring metal. **

** "Spiders!" Annabeth said. "Sp-sp-aaaah!"**

**I'd never seen her like this before. She fell backward in terror and almost got overwhelmed by the spider robots before I pulled her up and dragged her back toward the boat. **

**The things were coming out from all around the rim now, millions of them, flooding toward the center of the pool, completely surrounding us. I told myself they probably weren't programmed to kill, just corral us and bite us and make us look stupid. Then again, this was a trap meant for gods. And we weren't gods. **

"No, really?" Nico said rolling his eyes.

** Annabeth and I climbed into the boat. I started kicking away the spiders as they swarmed aboard. I yelled at Annabeth to help me, but she was too paralyzed to do much more than scream. **

** "Thirty, twenty-nine, " called the loudspeaker. **

** The spiders started spitting out strands of metal thread, trying to tie us down. The strands were easy enough to break at first, but there were so many of them, and the spiders just kept coming. I kicked one away from Annabeth's leg and its pincers took a chunk out of my new surf shoe. **

**Grover hovered above the pool in his flying sneakers, trying to pull the net loose, but it wouldn't budge. **

**Think, I told myself. Think. **

"That must have been very hard for Percy." Reyna said teasing him.

"Hey!" Percy crossed his arms and began to pout.

The rest of the demigods burst out laughing.

** The Tunnel of Love entrance was under the net. We could use it as an exit, except that it was blocked by a million robot spiders.**

** "Fifteen, fourteen, " the loudspeaker called. **

**Water, I thought. Where does the ride's water come from?**

** Then I saw them: huge water pipes behind the mirrors, where the spiders had come from. And up above the net, next to one of the Cupids, a glass-windowed booth that must be the controller's station. **

** "Grover!" I yelled. "Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"**

**"But-"**

**"Do it!" It was a crazy hope, but it was our only chance. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now. Annabeth was screaming her head off. I had to get us out of there. **

**Grover was in the controller's booth now, slamming away at the buttons.**

**"Five, four-"**

**Grover looked up at me hopelessly, raising his hands. He was letting me know that he'd pushed every button, but still nothing was happening.**

"Well shit." Leo said.

"Leo!" Hazel cried out in shock.

"What?" The fire-user said.

**I closed my eyes and thought about waves, rushing water, the Mississippi River. I felt a familiar tug in my gut. I tried to imagine that I was dragging the ocean all the way to Denver.**

**"Two, one, zero!"**

**Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. I pulled Annabeth into the seat next to me and fastened her seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into our boat, over the top, whisking the spiders away and dousing us completely, but not capsizing us. The boat turned, lifted in the flood, and spun in circles around the whirlpool.**

**The water was full of short-circuiting spiders, some of them smashing against the pool's concrete wall with such force they burst.**

The demigods all leaned forward in anticipation.

**Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cams were rolling, live to Olympus.**

**But I could only concentrate on controlling the boat. I willed it to ride the current, to keep away from the wall. Maybe it was my imagination, but the boat seemed to respond. At least, it didn't break into a million pieces. We spun around one last time, the water level now almost high enough to shred us against the metal net. Then the boat's nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness.**

**Annabeth and I held tight, both of us screaming as the boat shot curls and hugged corners and took forty-five-degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's Day stuff.**

**Then we were out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled straight toward the exit.**

If the ride had been in working order, we would've sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely in the exit pool. But there was a problem. The Gates of Love were chained. Two boats that had been washed out of the tunnel before us were now piled against the barricade-one submerged, the other cracked in half.

They all looked at each other worriedly.

**"Unfasten your seat belt, " I yelled to Annabeth.**

**"Are you crazy?"**

**"Unless you want to get smashed to death. " I strapped Ares's shield to my arm. "We're going to have to jump for it. " My idea was simple and insane. As the boat struck, we would use its force like a springboard to jump the gate. I'd heard of people surviving car crashes that way, getting thrown thirty or forty feet away from an accident. With luck, we would land in the pool.**

**Annabeth seemed to understand. She gripped my hand as the gates got closer.**

**"On my mark, " I said.**

**"No! On my mark!"**

"You'd better listen to Annabeth Percy." Piper said.

"She knows what she's talking about." Leo added

"Don't worry I do." The son of the sea god assured his friends.

**"What?"**

**"Simple physics!" she yelled. "Force times the trajectory angle-"**

**"Fine. '" I shouted. "On your mark!"**

**She hesitated ... Hesitated ... Then yelled, "Now!"**

**Crack!**

**Annabeth was right. If we'd jumped when I thought we should've, we would've crashed into the gates. She got us maximum lift.**

"Told you." Leo said before quickly going back to reading.

**Unfortunately, that was a little more than we needed. Our boat smashed into the pileup and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool, and down toward solid asphalt.**

** Something grabbed me from behind.**

**Annabeth yelled, "Ouch!"**

**Grover!**

**In midair, he had grabbed me by the shirt, and Annabeth by the arm, and was trying to pull us out of a crash landing, but Annabeth and I had all the momentum.**

**"You're too heavy!" Grover said. "We're going down!"**

**We spiraled toward the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall.**

They held their breath.

**We smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head going straight into the hole where tourists would put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Annabeth and I tumbled to the ground, banged up but alive. Ares's shield was still on my arm. **

**Once we caught our breath, Annabeth and I got Grover out of the photo-board and thanked him for saving our lives. I looked back at the Thrill Ride of Love. The water was subsiding. Our boat had been smashed to pieces against the gates. **

**A hundred yards away, at the entrance pool, the Cupids were still filming. The statues had swiveled so that their cameras were trained straight on us, the spotlights in our faces. **

**"Show's over!" I yelled. "Thank you! Good night!"**

Everyone of them doubled over in fits of laughter.

"Only Percy!" Frank laughed. "Only Percy would sign off after being almost caught in a trap and taped."

"I don't know Frank." Piper said between gasps of laughter. "I'm pretty sure Leo would do that same thing if he was in Percy's place."

Leo grinned. "You know I would."

It took a few moments for all of them to stop laughing before Leo could continue to read.

**The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went quiet and dark again, except for the gentle trickle of water into the Thrill Ride of Love's exit pool. I wondered if Olympus had gone to a commercial break, or if our ratings had been any good.**

The demigods all began to laugh once more.

**I hated being teased. I hated being tricked. And I had plenty of experience handling bullies who liked to do that stuff to me. I hefted the shield on my arm and turned to my friends. "We need to have a little talk with Ares. "**

"End of the chapter!" Leo chirped happily. He reached over and handed it to the son of Poseidon himself.

Percy sighed but began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story! I don't plan to ever. Now Since I'm getting close to finishing this first book. Which one would you like me to do next:

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea of monsters,

or

The Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades?


	17. Chapter 17

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 17

Lots of Reading

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible.

Would you like any more characters to appear for the readings? If so which ones. They can be any on you want. dead or living, past or present. Gods, mortals, demigods, satyrs/fauns, etc.

* * *

**Chapter 16: We Take A Zebra To Vegas**

"What?!" Leo looked up from his design.

** The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.**

**"Well, well, " he said. "You didn't get yourself killed. "**

Frank raised an eyebrow at his dad's comment. "How...nice."

**"You knew it was a trap, " I said.**

**Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled black-smith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV. "**

"You're dad's a jerk." Piper frowned.

"Tell me something I don't know." Frank responded.

"You know," Leo pointed out, "Technically he's like you step-father Piper, since he and Aphrodite are together."

"Wouldn't that be your dad since he's married to my mom?"

Leo shrugged.

** I shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk. "**

"See!" Leo pointed a finger accusingly. "You've been spending way to much time with Percy!"

Piper stuck her tongue out in reply.

**Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.**

**Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.**

** "See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L. A. , with one stop in Vegas. "**

"Is this where the Zebra comes in?" Jason asked.

Percy and Annabeth nodded.

**The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.**

The demigods all raised their eyebrows.

"He seriously expects to ride in there?" Hazel exclaimed.

"Yep." Percy said with an emphasis on the 'p' at the end.

** I said, "You're kidding. "**

** Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job. "**

**He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to me.**

**Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.**

"Mmmm..." Leo drooled. "Oreos..."

They rolled their eyes at him.

**I said, "I don't want your lousy-"**

** "Thank you, Lord Ares, " Grover interrupted, giving me his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot. "**

**I gritted my teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, I slung the backpack over my shoulder. I knew my anger was being caused by the war god's presence, but I was still itching to punch him in the nose. He reminded me of every bully I'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcastic teachers-every jerk who'd called me stupid in school or laughed at me when I'd gotten expelled. **

"That's not nice." Hazel said.

The others agreed with Hazel whole heartedly.

** I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. **

**Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.**

**I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAW BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.**

The demigods burst out laughing.

It took a while for them to calm down enough for Percy to continue reading.

** "You owe me one more thing, " I told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised me information about my mother. "**

**"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead. "**

**The ground seemed to spin beneath me. "What do you mean?"**

** "I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept. "**

"Kept by who?" Nico said.

"Three guesses." Percy told him.

"Hades?"

"Yep."

**"Kept. Why?"**

**"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else. "**

** "Nobody's controlling me. "**

**He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid. "**

**I balled up my fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues. "**

Nico visibly flinched reminded of his time with cupid in Croatia.

"Nico, are you okay?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"Fine." He ground out.

Annabeth looked to Percy for help. Percy just shrugged. He didn't know what was going on with Nico. What had he done to make him so upset at him?

** Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back. "**

**He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.**

**Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy. "**

"It really wasn't." Annabeth commented.

**"I don't care. "**

** "You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god. "**

** "Hey, guys, " Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ... "**

** He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identi-cal black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.**

**"If we're taking the zoo express, " Grover said, "we need to hurry. "**

** I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver. **

The others nodded their agreement.

** We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us. **

** The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. **

Piper wrinkled her nose in disgust.

**The trailer was dark inside until I uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for. **

** Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!**

"HOW DARE THEY!" Piper screamed jumping out of her seat.

"Piper, calm down!" Jason grabbed her arm to stop her from doing something rash.

"It's okay, Piper!" Annabeth tried to reassure her friend. "Grover, Percy and I helped the animals. They're now living in the wild; free and happy."

Piper relaxed a little bit. "Are you okay?" Jason questioned.

"I'm okay now." Piper and Jason took their seats again. Percy started reading once more.

** Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.**

The daughter of Aphrodite's eyes flashed with fury.

**"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?" **

"Exactly my thoughts Grover." Piper spat angrily.

**He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and I would've helped him,**

"Me too." The Cherokee girl said.

"Me three." Reyna agreed furiously. The other demigods nodded in assent.

Piper looked over at Reyna. Maybe she and Reyna were more alike than they thought. If Reyna didn't like Jason they could have both been really good friends.

** but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down. **

**We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips. **

"Probably." Nico replied.

** I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. I gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. **

Piper smiled in approval at Percy and Annabeth.

**Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night. **

** Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to our destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty- first. We could make it in plenty of time. **

"You know you probably just jinxed it, right?" Jason told him.

Percy sighed running a hand through his hair. "I know."

** On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it-he'd put up cameras and advertised me as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods. **

"Cause my dad's awesome like that." Leo said drawing more blueprints.

"Leo, what are you drawing?" Piper asked out of curiosity.

"Um... it's... nothing. Nothing at all..." He said quickly.

Jason raised an eyebrow at his friend . "Really?" Skepticism filled his voice.

"Really."

**"Hey, " Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy. "**

**"That's okay. "**

**"It's just... " She shuddered. "Spiders. "**

Annabeth shivered.

**"Because of the Arachne story, " I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"**

**Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you. "**

**"We're a team, remember?" I said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying. "**

**I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?"**

They all began to laugh.

** Annabeth and I laughed. **

**She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me half. "In the Iris message ... Did Luke really say nothing?"**

**I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree. "**

"Wait a minute... Pine tree?" Jason said. He glanced at Percy and Annabeth. "Does he mean Thalia? My sister?"

The two of them nodded.

** In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions.**

**Grover let out a mournful bray.**

**"I should've told you the truth from the beginning. " His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along. "**

"Poor Grover." Hazel said sympathetically.

**"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus. "**

**He nodded glumly. **

** "And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp ... " I looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"**

The daughter of Athena nodded.

** She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were ... Amazing monster- fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us. "**

"Wow." Frank commented.

** "I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp, " he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought ... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker ... "**

** "Stop it, " Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either. "**

**"She sacrificed herself to save us, " he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so. "**

"No, it's not." Jason said furiously. "How can he think that it was his fault?"

** "Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" I said. "That's not fair. "**

**"Percy's right, " Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says. "**

**Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."**

"That just means he's the best Satyr." Nico replied.

The rest of the demigods nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what about me cupcakes?" Coach Hedge demanded.

The demigods all jumped out of their skin (not literally people).

"Coach, what are you doing here?" Reyna asked.

"Well, I was eating and suddenly you were gone. Next thing I know I'm here."

"What about that statue?" Annabeth asked frantically. "What about the Athena Parthenos?"

"I don't know." Hedge said.

Just then a note fell out of the sky.

Nico picked it up and began to read.

_Dear demigods and satyr,_

_The Athena Parthenos is safe do not worry. No harm will come to it while you read. _

_~ Juno/Hera_

"Well, that answers that question." Percy said.

"So should we keep reading?" Frank asked.

The demigods all agreed.

"Wait so what's going on here? What are we reading?"

They began to explain the note they got and the books, and everything. They then caught him up to where they were presently in the book.

"Well, what are we waiting for cupcakes? Let's get going. The sooner we finish the books, the sooner we can get back to camp with the statue and stop the war between the two camps."

Percy obliged.

**"You're not lame, " Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now. "**

** She kicked me in the shin. **

** "Yeah, " I said, which I would've done even without the kick. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan. "**

"And he did." Hedge told them. "Good kid, Grover."

"He found the lost god Pan?" Jason said.

"Yeah, he did." Annabeth told them.

** I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep. **

** "How does he do that?" I marveled. **

** "I don't know, " Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him. "**

** "I meant it. "**

They all smiled at their friend.

**We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully.**

**Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.**

**"That pine-tree bead, " I said. "Is that from your first year?"**

**She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.**

"I didn't."

**"Yeah, " she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress-now that was a weird summer... "**

They laughed.

**"And the college ring is your father's?"**

** "That's none of your-" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is. "**

**"You don't have to tell me. "**

Annabeth gave Percy a faint smile.

** "No ... It's okay. " She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard with-out her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him. "**

** "That doesn't sound so bad. "**

"Well, looks can be deceiving." Annabeth said.

They all looked at Annabeth, wondering what she meant by that.

Annabeth gestured for Percy to keep reading.

** "Yeah, well... The problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood. "**

** "You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"**

**She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain. "**

**"You shouldn't give up, " I told her. "You should write him a letter or something. "**

**"Thanks for the advice, " she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with. "**

"Are things okay with your father now, cupcake?" Hedge asked her, concern in his eyes.

"Yeah, they're okay Coach, not Perfect, but okay." Annabeth gave him a small smile. "Better than they were before at least."

"That's good." Coach Hedge nodded

**We passed another few miles of silence.**

**"So if the gods fight, " I said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"**

**She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you. "**

**"Why?"**

**"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"**

"And that was the first time she called me Seaweed Brain." Percy narrated. "And from then on it became my nickname."

"Percy!" Annabeth tried to look stern but failed and began laughing,

Percy grinned and then began to read once Annabeth had calmed down.

**I couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately I didn't have to. Annabeth was asleep. **

** I had trouble following her example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but even-tually I closed my eyes. **

** My nightmare started out as something I'd dreamed a million times before: I was being forced to take a standardized test while wearing a straitjacket. All the other kids were going out to recess, and the teacher kept saying, Come on, Percy. You're not stupid, are you? Pick up your pencil. **

"That's just mean."' Hazel crossed her arms.

"It's only a dream Hazel." Percy told her.

"Did that ever happen for real?" Frank asked.

"A few times." Percy muttered.

His friends looked livid, like they were about to go hunt down the people who said those things and force them to apologize.

"Look, it happened a long time ago. I'm over it." Percy assured them. Before they could protest Percy quickly started reading again.

**Then the dream strayed from the usual. **

** I looked over at the next desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket. She was my age, with unruly black, punk-style hair, dark eyeliner around her stormy green eyes, and freckles across her nose. Somehow, I knew who she was. She was Thalia, daughter of Zeus.**

**She struggled against the straitjacket, glared at me in frustration, and snapped, Well, Seaweed Brain? One of us has to get out of here.**

**She's right, my dream-self thought. I'm going back to that cavern. I'm going to give Hades a piece of my mind.**

"Yea go Percy!" Leo cheered.

**The straitjacket melted off me. I fell through the class-room floor. The teacher's voice changed until it was cold and evil, echoing from the depths of a great chasm.**

**Percy Jackson, it said. Yes, the exchange went well, 1 see.**

**I was back in the dark cavern, spirits of the dead drift-ing around me. Unseen in the pit, the monstrous thing was speaking, but this time it wasn't addressing me. The numb-ing power of its voice seemed directed somewhere else.**

**And he suspects nothing? it asked.**

"I didn't until I had this dream."

**Another voice, one I almost recognized, answered at my shoulder. Nothing, my lord. He is as ignorant as the rest.**

**I looked over, but no one was there. The speaker was invisible.**

**Deception upon deception, the thing in the pit mused aloud. Excellent.**

**Truly, my lord, said the voice next to me, you are well-named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly -**

**You? the monster said in scorn. You have already shown your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened.**

**But, my lord-**

** Peace, little servant. Our six months have bought us much. Zeus's anger has grown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands ... But wait. He is here.**

The demigods all became tense.

**What? The invisible servant suddenly sounded tense. You summoned him, my lord?**

**No. The full force of the monsters attention was now pouring over me, freezing me in place. Blast his father's blood-he is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither.**

**Impossible! the servant cried.**

** For a weakling such as you, perhaps, the voice snarled. Then its cold power turned back on me. So ... You wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige. **

No one said a thing. They just listened intently. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

** The scene changed. **

** I was standing in a vast throne room with black marble walls and bronze floors. The empty, horrid throne was made from human bones fused together. Standing at the foot of the dais was my mother, frozen in shimmering golden light, her arms outstretched.**

**I tried to step toward her, but my legs wouldn't move. I reached for her, only to realize that my hands were wither-ing to bones. Grinning skeletons in Greek armor crowded around me, draping me with silk robes, wreathing my head with laurels that smoked with Chimera poison, burning into my scalp. **

** The evil voice began to laugh. Hail, the conquering hero!**

**I woke with a start.**

The demigods relaxed a little.

** Grover was shaking my shoulder. "The truck's stopped, " he said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals. "**

** "Hide!" Annabeth hissed. **

** She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and dis-appeared. Grover and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips. **

** The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.**

**"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances. " He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. **

** "You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. **

Coach Hedge, and Piper clenched their fists. Hedge looked like he was about to bust out his baseball bat any minute and start breaking stuff.

**The lion roared in indignation.**

**"Yeah, yeah, yeah, " the man said.**

**Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous. **

Just like coach Hedge looked at that moment.

** The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"**

"Those horrible people!" Hazel said angrily.

They rest of them nodded in agreement.

They all looked murderous now.

**The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at me.**

**There was no sound, but as clear as day, I heard it say: Free me, lord. Please.**

** I was too stunned to react.**

"You can talk to Zebras?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, apparently since they're closely related to horses I can talk to them as well."

**There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.**

** The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"**

**A voice outside-it must've been Eddie's-shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"**

**"What are you banging for?"**

**Knock, knock, knock.**

**Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"**

**Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. **

Annabeth smiled as if she knew something they didn't know.

**A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal. "**

**"No kidding, " Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!"**

**That's right, the zebra's voice said in my mind.**

**"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at me, waiting for my lead.**

** I'd heard the zebra talk, but not the lion. Why? Maybe it was another learning disability ... I could only under-stand zebras? Then I thought: horses. What had Annabeth said about Poseidon creating horses? Was a zebra close enough to a horse? Was that why I could understand it?**

** The zebra said, Open my cage, lord. Please. I'll be fine after that.**

"You freed the animals right kid?" Coach Hedge asked.

"Of course we did Coach." Annabeth reassured him.

"Good." He nodded in approval.

**Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. I grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage.**

**The zebra burst out. It turned to me and bowed. Thank you, lord. **

** Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing. **

"The satyr's sanctuary." Coach Hedge told them.

** Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra gal-loping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas. **

** Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"**

**"Now would be a good time to leave, " Annabeth said.**

They all nodded in agreement with past Annabeth.

**"The other animals first, " Grover said. **

** I cut the locks with my sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra. **

** "Good luck, " I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. **

** Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos. **

** "Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all-"**

"They'll be fine kid." Coach Hedge responded.

** "Don't worry, " he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them. "**

** "Meaning?"**

**"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely, " he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live. "**

**"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked.**

**"It only works on wild animals. "**

**"So it would only affect Percy, " Annabeth reasoned.**

**"Hey!" I protested.**

They all laughed.

** "Kidding, " she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck. "**

**We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention.**

**We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick.**

**I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sand-wich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west.**

**We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. **

Nico scowled at the mention of the hotel.

**The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers-lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure. **

**The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"**

**I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a god. You just couldn't tell. But this guy was normal. One look at him, and I could see. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa. "**

They all leaned forward ready to listen to the descriptions of the place. This was where Nico had spent most of his time.

**The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids play-ing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine. **

"Cool!" Leo commented. It sounded like Leo's kind of place.

** "Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bell-hop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key. "**

**I stammered, "Um, but... "**

**"No, no, " he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or what-ever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides. "**

'It sounds pretty awesome.' Leo thought. 'If only when you were stuck there time didn't passed much quicker. Twenty years could pass and only feel like a day or maybe a week.'

**He handed us each a green plastic credit card.**

**I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?"**

**His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"**

**"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"**

**He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay. "**

**We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this. **

Jason could see how people could get lost in a place like that. It sounded amazing.

** "Oh, goodness, " Annabeth said. "This place is ... "**

**"Sweet, " Grover said. "Absolutely sweet. "**

**There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange.**

**I threw Ares's backpack in the trash can. Wouldn't need that anymore. When we left, I could just charge a new one at the hotel store.**

** I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. In the back of my mind, some small problem kept nagging me. I'd had a dream or something ... I needed to talk to my friends. But I was sure it could wait.**

**I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel. **

'Typical Annabeth,' Percy thought with a smile. Then he continued to read.

** "All those stations, " I told her, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"**

**"It's interesting. "**

**"I feel good, " Grover said. "I love this place. "**

**Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again.**

**"So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?"**

**Grover and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic LotusCash cards.**

**"Play time, " I said. **

If Leo was in his place he knew he would've done the same thing.

** I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it.**

**I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, did the waterslide, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing-where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it.**

** I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong. **

They all leaned forward and listened intently.

** Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis imper-sonator's son. He wore bell- bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night. **

**We played a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better. "**

**Groovy?**

**Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick, " and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before.**

**He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions he got bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen.**

Leo began to add more to his blueprint of 'Leo and Calypso's Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters'.

**I said, "Hey, Darrin?"**

**"What?"**

**"What year is it?"**

**He frowned at me. "In the game?"**

**"No. In real life. "**

**He had to think about it. "1977. "**

**"No, " I said, getting a little scared. "Really. "**

**"Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening. "**

**After that he totally ignored me.**

"Of course." Nico muttered.

**I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care.**

**Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it?**

**I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My mother ... For a scary second, I had trouble remembering her name. Sally. Sally Jackson. I had to find her. I had to stop Hades from causing World War III.**

Percy stopped reading to take a drink of water. His throat was getting dry and his voice started to sound hoarse.

"Would you like me to finish reading the chapter?" Piper asked.

"If you don't mind."

"Not at all." Piper cleared her throat and continued reading where he had left off.

**I found Annabeth still building her city.**

**"Come on, " I told her. "We've got to get out of here. "**

**No response.**

**I shook her. "Annabeth?"**

**She looked up, annoyed. "What?**

**"We need to leave. "**

**"Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers-"**

**"This place is a trap. "**

**She didn't respond until I shook her again. "What?"**

Nico remembered the same thing happening to himself and Bianca when Alecto came to get them out of The Lotus Hotel and Casino. They just didn't want to leave.

**"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"**

**"Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes. "**

**"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever. "**

**"So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?"**

**I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game.**

"That's one way to do it." Leo commented.

**"Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy.**

**I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders. "**

**That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods, " she said. "How long have we-"**

**"I don't know, but we've got to find Grover. "**

**We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter.**

Leo glanced up from his sketch of his and Calypso workshop. He'd never heard of that game before.

**"Grover!" we both shouted.**

**He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!"**

**"Grover!"**

** He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen. **

**I looked at Annabeth, and together we took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!"**

Hazel didn't see what the big deal was about that.

**The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"**

**"We're leaving, " I told him.**

**"Such a shame, " he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members. "**

** He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, play-ing games forever, and soon I'd forget my mom, and my quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever.**

"I'm so glad we left that place." Percy said his voice still hoarse.

"Me too." Annabeth agreed.

Piper continued to read the chapter.

**Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks. "**

**We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once...**

** Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert. **

**Ares's backpack was slung over my shoulder, which was odd, because I was sure I had thrown it in the trash can in room 4001, but at the moment I had other problems to worry about. **

** I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth.**

**We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.**

**We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest. **

"Oh crap!"

"Leo!" Hazel admonished with a faint blush across her cheeks.

"What? People, and teenagers in general, swear all the time now." He informed her. "It's normal in this time."

"That's the end of the chapter," Piper announced.

"I'll read." Reyna offered. Piper quickly handed the book to her and she began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story! I don't plan to ever! :D

I added Coach Hedge as I typed this because it just came to made and made sense to me.

Some people have told me that they'd like more characters to show up. So should they? And if so which characters would you like to join the readings?


	18. Chapter 18

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 18

Reading more

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible.

Would you like any more characters to appear for the readings? If so which ones. They can be any on you want. dead or living, past or present. Gods, mortals, demigods, satyrs/fauns, etc.

* * *

**Chapter 17: We Shop For Water Beds**

Reyna raised an eyebrow at the title but continued on.

** It was Annabeth's idea.**

**She loaded us into the back of a Vegas taxi as if we actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please. "**

"Isn't that like three hundred miles?" Jason asked.

They two of them (Percy and Annabeth) nodded.

**The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized us up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front. "**

**"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.**

**He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first. "**

**Annabeth handed him her green LotusCash card.**

**He looked at it skeptically.**

**"Swipe it, " Annabeth invited.**

**He did.**

**His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.**

Leo let out a whistle. "Dang. If I had one of those, I would keep it."

**The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles... Uh, Your Highness?"**

** "The Santa Monica Pier. " Annabeth sat up a little straighter. I could tell she liked the "Your Highness" thing. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change. "**

"You should have kept that." Frank said. "It probably would have come in handy."

"Now that I think about it." Percy said. "We probably should have."

"Yeah." Annabeth agreed.

**Maybe she shouldn't have told him that. The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert. **

**On the road, we had plenty of time to talk. I told Annabeth and Grover about my latest dream, but the details got sketchier the more I tried to remember them. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short- circuited my memory. I couldn't recall what the invisible servant's voice had sounded like, though I was sure it was somebody I knew. The servant had called the monster in the pit something other than "my lord" ... Some special name or title... **

** "The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades. "**

Nico shot Annabeth a quick glare before looking back to the book.

** "Maybe ... " I said, though neither sounded quite right.**

**"That throne room sounds like Hades's, " Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described. "**

**I shook my head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit ... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice. "**

"Kronos?" Frank asked looking to Percy for an answer.

The son of Poseidon nodded.

** Annabeth's eyes widened.**

**"What?" I asked.**

**"Oh ... Nothing. I was just-No, it has to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong-"**

Nico glared once more at Annabeth. "Just because my father can be deceitful, does not mean that he's trying to start another war."

"I know that now." Annabeth replied. "But I didn't then."

"Whatever." Nico went back to ignoring her.

** "Like what?"**

** "I-I don't know, " she said. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voice said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt. "**

**I wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She looked pale.**

**"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt, " I said, "why would I be traveling to the Underworld?"**

"A very good point." Piper pointed out.

Hazel nodded in agreement.

** "To threaten Hades, " Grover suggested. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back. "**

**I whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat. "**

**"Why, thank you. "**

A few of them laughed.

**"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for two items, " I said. "If the master bolt is one, what's the other?"**

**Grover shook his head, clearly mystified.**

**Annabeth was looking at me as if she knew my next question, and was silently willing me not to ask it.**

**"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" I asked her. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"**

**"Percy ... Let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades ... No. It has to be Hades. "**

Nico shot another glare at the daughter of Athena.

**Wasteland rolled by. We passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.**

**I got the feeling I was missing one simple, critical piece of information. It was like when I stared at a common word I should know, but I couldn't make sense of it because one or two letters were floating around. The more I thought about my quest, the more I was sure that confronting Hades wasn't the real answer. There was something else going on, something even more dangerous.**

"Definitely," Leo responded.

** The problem was: we were hurtling toward the Underworld at ninety-five miles an hour, betting that Hades had the master bolt. If we got there and found out we were wrong, we wouldn't have time to correct ourselves. The solstice deadline would pass and war would begin.**

**"The answer is in the Underworld, " Annabeth assured me. "You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing. "**

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Nico commented.

** She tried to boost our morale by suggesting clever strategies for getting into the Land of the Dead, but my heart wasn't in it. There were just too many unknown factors. It was like cramming for a test without knowing the subject. And believe me, I'd done that enough times. **

**The cab sped west. Every gust of wind through Death Valley sounded like a spirit of the dead. Every time the brakes hissed on an eighteen-wheeler, it reminded me of Echidna's reptilian voice. **

** At sunset, the taxi dropped us at the beach in Santa Monica. It looked exactly the way L. A. Beaches do in the movies, only it smelled worse. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless guys sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfer dudes waiting for the perfect wave. **

Piper was reminded of surfing with her dad.

**Grover, Annabeth, and I walked down to the edge of the surf.**

**"What now?" Annabeth asked.**

**The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. I thought about how long it had been since I'd stood on the beach at Montauk, on the opposite side of the country, looking out at a different sea.**

**How could there be a god who could control all that? What did my science teacher used to say-two- thirds of the earth's surface was covered in water? How could I be the son of someone that powerful?**

**I stepped into the surf.**

They all looked at Percy curiously.

**"Percy?" Annabeth said. "What are you doing?"**

** I kept walking, up to my waist, then my chest.**

**She called after me, "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic-"**

**That's when my head went under.**

**I held my breath at first. It's difficult to intentionally inhale water. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. I gasped. Sure enough, I could breathe normally.**

"That's pretty cool." Leo commented.

** I walked down into the shoals. I shouldn't have been able to see through the murk, but somehow I could tell where everything was. I could sense the rolling texture of the bottom. I could make out sand-dollar colonies dotting the sandbars. I could even see the currents, warm and cold streams swirling together. **

** I felt something rub against my leg. I looked down and almost shot out of the water like a ballistic missile. Sliding along beside me was a five-foot-long mako shark.**

**But the thing wasn't attacking. It was nuzzling me. Heeling like a dog. Tentatively, I touched its dorsal fin. It bucked a little, as if inviting me to hold tighter. I grabbed the fin with both hands. It took off, pulling me along. The shark carried me down into the darkness. It deposited me at the edge of the ocean proper, where the sand bank dropped off into a huge chasm. It was like standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon at midnight, not being able to see much, but knowing the void was right there. **

They all listened intently.

**The surface shimmered maybe a hundred and fifty feet above. I knew I should've been crushed by the pressure. Then again, I shouldn't have been able to breathe. I wondered if there was a limit to how deep I could go, if I could sink straight to the bottom of the Pacific. **

"Can you?" Leo asked curiously.

"I don't know. I never really tried." Percy replied.

Reyna began to read again.

** Then I saw something glimmering in the darkness below, growing bigger and brighter as it rose toward me. A woman's voice, like my mother's, called: "Percy Jackson. "**

** As she got closer, her shape became clearer. She had flowing black hair, a dress made of green silk. Light flickered around her, and her eyes were so distractingly beautiful I hardly noticed the stallion-sized sea horse she was riding. **

** She dismounted. The sea horse and the mako shark whisked off and started playing something that looked like tag. The underwater lady smiled at me. "You've come far, Percy Jackson. Well done. "**

** I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I bowed. "You're the woman who spoke to me in the Mississippi River. "**

"Yep." Leo said absentmindedly adding more to his and Calypsos' shop.

** "Yes, child. I am a Nereid, a spirit of the sea. It was not easy to appear so far upriver, but the naiads, my freshwater cousins, helped sustain my life force. They honor Lord Poseidon, though they do not serve in his court. "**

**"And ... You serve in Poseidon's court?"**

**She nodded. "It has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born. We have watched you with great interest. "**

"That's not creepy at all." Leo said, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

**Suddenly I remembered faces in the waves off Montauk Beach when I was a little boy, reflections of smiling women. Like so many of the weird things in my life, I'd never given it much thought before.**

**"If my father is so interested in me, " I said, "why isn't he here? Why doesn't he speak to me?"**

**A cold current rose out of the depths.**

**"Do not judge the Lord of the Sea too harshly, " the Nereid told me. "He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favoritism. "**

"That sucks." The fire-user said.

**"Even to their own children?"**

** "Especially to them. The gods can work by indirect influence only. That is why I give you a warning, and a gift. "**

** She held out her hand. Three white pearls flashed in her palm. **

** "I know you journey to Hades's realm, " she said. "Few mortals have ever done this and survived: Orpheus, who had great music skill; Hercules, who had great strength; Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus. Do you have these talents?"**

"Nope." Percy said.

** "Um ... No, ma'am. "**

** "Ah, but you have something else, Percy. You have gifts you have only begun to know. The oracles have foretold a great and terrible future for you, should you survive to man-hood. Poseidon would not have you die before your time. Therefore take these, and when you are in need, smash a pearl at your feet. "**

**"What will happen?"**

**"That, " she said, "depends on the need. But remember: what belongs to the sea will always return to the sea. "**

"Can no one give us straight answers instead of this cryptic crap." Leo said irritably.

"LEO!" Hazel admonished.

"What?" The son of Hephaestus responded.

**"What about the warning?"**

**Her eyes flickered with green light. "Go with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all. Hades feeds on doubt and hopelessness. He will trick you if he can, make you mistrust your own judgment. Once you are in his realm, he will never willingly let you leave. Keep faith. Good luck, Percy Jackson. "**

**She summoned her sea horse and rode toward the void.**

**"Wait!" I called. "At the river, you said not to trust the gifts. What gifts?"**

"Wouldn't we all like to know that." Frank replied.

The others nodded in agreement.

**"Good-bye, young hero, " she called back, her voice fading into the depths. "You must listen to your heart. " She became a speck of glowing green, and then she was gone.**

**I wanted to follow her down into the darkness. I wanted to see the court of Poseidon. But I looked up at the sunset darkening on the surface. My friends were waiting. We had so little time... **

** I kicked upward toward the shore. **

** When I reached the beach, my clothes dried instantly. I told Grover and Annabeth what had happened, and showed them the pearls.**

**Annabeth grimaced. "No gift comes without a price. "**

**"They were free. "**

** "No. " She shook her head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch. ' That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait. "**

"What's the price?" Jason wondered.

No one answered his question.

**On that happy thought, we turned our backs on the sea.**

**With some spare change from Ares's backpack, we took the bus into West Hollywood. I showed the driver the Underworld address slip I'd taken from Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, but he'd never heard of DOA Recording Studios.**

** "You remind me of somebody I saw on TV, " he told me. "You a child actor or something?"**

** "Uh ... I'm a stunt double ... For a lot of child actors. "**

**"Oh! That explains it. "**

**We thanked him and got off quickly at the next stop.**

"Percy, you were a child actor and you didn't tell us?" Leo fake gasped.

Percy rolled his eyes.

** We wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It didn't appear in the phone book. **

** Twice, we ducked into alleys to avoid cop cars. **

** I froze in front of an appliance-store window because a television was playing an interview with somebody who looked very familiar-my stepdad, Smelly Gabe. He was talking to Barbara Walters-I mean, as if he were some kind of huge celebrity. She was interviewing him in our apartment, in the middle of a poker game, and there was a young blond lady sitting next to him, patting his hand. **

All of the demigods and Coach Hedge growled at the mention of Percy's ex-stepfather.

Coach looked murderous. After everything he heard about Smelly Gabe, he wanted to find him and bash his head in with his baseball bat.

** A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was saying, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife ... My Camaro ... I-I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it. "**

**"There you have it, America. " Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of this troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver. "**

** The screen cut to a grainy shot of me, Annabeth, and Grover standing outside the Colorado diner, talking to Ares. **

"You really have terrible luck, kid." Coach Hedge commented.

"Don't I know it." Percy groaned.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes at her boyfriends antics.

** "Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America. "**

"Yeah, Percy is totally a brainwashed victim of a cult." Leo said with mock seriousness.

**"C'mon, " Grover told me. He hauled me away before I could punch a hole in the appliance-store window. **

** It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the streets to play. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a New Yorker. I don't scare easy. But L. A. Had a totally different feel from New York. Back home, everything seemed close. It didn't matter how big the city was, you could get anywhere without getting lost. The street pattern and the subway made sense. There was a system to how things worked. A kid could be safe as long as he wasn't stupid. **

"So basically you're doomed since you have Percy with you." Nico said.

"Hey, wait a minute!" The son of the sea god said.

They all started laughing.

**L. A. Wasn't like that. It was spread out, chaotic, hard to move around. It reminded me of Ares. It wasn't enough for L. A. To be big; it had to prove it was big by being loud and strange and difficult to navigate, too. I didn't know how we were ever going to find the entrance to the Underworld by tomorrow, the summer solstice. **

"Good luck with that." Jason said with all seriousness.

"Oh, don't worry." Percy told them. "We made it just in time."

"How on earth did you do that?" Frank asked

"You'll see."

** We walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at us like they were trying to figure if we were worth the trouble of mugging.**

**As we hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you. "**

**Like an idiot, I stopped. **

"Of course you did." Piper sighed.

**Before I knew it, we were surrounded. A gang of kids had circled us. Six of them in all-white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. Like the kids at Yancy Academy: rich brats playing at being bad boys.**

** Instinctively, I uncapped Riptide.**

**When the sword appeared out of nowhere, the kids backed off, but their leader was either really stupid or really brave, because he kept coming at me with a switchblade.**

"Probably both." Frank commented.

** I made the mistake of swinging.**

**The kid yelped. But he must've been one hundred percent mortal, because the blade passed harmlessly right through his chest. He looked down. "What the ... "**

**I figured I had about three seconds before his shock turned to anger. "Run!" I screamed at Annabeth and Grover.**

"That sounds like a good plan." Jason said.

**We pushed two kids out of the way and raced down the street, not knowing where we were going. We turned a sharp corner. **

** "There!" Annabeth shouted.**

**Only one store on the block looked open, its windows glaring with neon. The sign above the door said something like CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE.**

** "Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated.**

**It didn't sound like a place I'd ever go except in an emergency, but this definitely qualified.**

**We burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang kids ran past outside.**

**"I think we lost them, " Grover panted.**

"That's good." Frank said.

They all looked relieved that their friends managed to escape harm that time around.

**A voice behind us boomed, "Lost who?"**

**We all jumped.**

**Standing behind us was a guy who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile. He moved toward us slowly, but I got the feeling he could move fast if he needed to.**

"He doesn't sound human." Jason observed.

"He isn't." Annabeth informed them.

**His suit might've come from the Lotus Casino. It belonged back in the seventies, big-time. The shirt was silk paisley, unbuttoned halfway down his hairless chest. The lapels on his velvet jacket were as wide as landing strips. The silver chains around his neck-I couldn't even count them. **

** "I'm Crusty, " he said, with a tartar-yellow smile. **

** I resisted the urge to say, Yes, you are. **

Piper looked like she was going to be sick again.

**"Sorry to barge in, " I told him. "We were just, um, browsing. "**

** "You mean hiding from those no-good kids, " he grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed?"**

**I was about to say No, thanks, when he put a huge paw on my shoulder and steered me deeper into the showroom. **

** There was every kind of water bed you could imagine: different kinds of wood, different patterns of sheets; queen-size, king-size, emperor-of-the-universe-size. **

** "This is my most popular model. " Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like oil-flavored Jell-O.**

**"Million-hand massage, " Crusty told us. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, anyway.**

"I think you should probably get out of there." Frank told them.

The others agreed wholeheartedly.

**"Um, " I said, "I don't think ... "**

** "Million-hand massage!" Grover cried, and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool. "**

**"Hmm, " Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost. "**

**"Almost what?" I asked.**

**He looked at Annabeth. "Do me a favor and try this one over here, honey. Might fit. "**

**Annabeth said, "But what-"**

"Who is that guy? Jason asked.

A light bulb went off in Piper's head. "Procrustes."

"Huh?" The son of Jupiter looked over at his girlfriend.

"Procrustes, was a son of Poseidon. He physically attacked people to stretch them to fit an iron bed. If they were to long for the bed. He cut off whatever hung off the bed."

They all looked extremely worried for their friends at this point.

**He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder and led her over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterned comforter. When Annabeth didn't want to lie down, Crusty pushed her. **

**"Hey!" she protested. **

**Crusty snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"**

**Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress.**

** Grover tried to get up, but ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, too, and lashed him down.**

**"N-not c-c-cool!" he yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"**

"I agree with Grover on this one." Leo told them.

**The giant looked at Annabeth, then turned toward me and grinned. "Almost, darn it. "**

** I tried to step away, but his hand shot out and clamped around the back of my neck. "Whoa, kid. Don't worry. We'll find you one in a sec. "**

**"Let my friends go. "**

**"Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first. "**

**"What do you mean?"**

**"All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit. "**

Coach Hedge looked furious. "If he hurt any of you."

"Don't worry we were fine," Annabeth assured him. " Percy got us out of there."

Hedge looked a little bit better now.

** Annabeth and Grover kept struggling. **

**"Can't stand imperfect measurements, " Crusty muttered. "Ergo!"**

**A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around Grover and Annabeth's ankles, then around their armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling my friends from both ends.**

**"Don't worry, " Crusty told me, "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"**

They all looked extremely worried for two demigods.

**"Percy!" Grover yelled.**

**My mind was racing. I knew I couldn't take on this giant water-bed salesman alone. He would snap my neck before I ever got my sword out. **

** "Your real name's not Crusty, is it?" I asked.**

**"Legally, it's Procrustes, " he admitted.**

**"The Stretcher, " I said. I remembered the story: the giant who'd tried to kill Theseus with excess hospitality on his way to Athens.**

**"Yeah, " the salesman said. "But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now 'Crusty, ' anybody can say that. "**

** "You're right. It's got a good ring to it. "**

**His eyes lit up. "You think so?"**

Jason smiled when he realized Percy's plan.

"What are you smiling for?" Piper asked.

Jason whispered something in her ear and Piper smiled.

"Good idea Percy." Piper complimented the son of Poseidon.

"Why, thank you Piper."

The others looked confused, with the exception of Annabeth.

Percy just gestured for Reyna to keep reading.

**"Oh, absolutely, " I said. "And the workmanship on these beds? Fabulous!"**

**He grinned hugely, but his fingers didn't loosen on my neck. "I tell my customers that. Every time. Nobody bothers to look at the workmanship. How many built-in Lava Lamp headboards have you seen?"**

** "Not too many. "**

**"That's right!"**

**"Percy!" Annabeth yelled. "What are you doing?"**

**"Don't mind her, " I told Procrustes. "She's impossible. "**

**The giant laughed. "All my customers are. Never six feet exactly. So inconsiderate. And then they complain about the fitting. "**

**"What do you do if they're longer than six feet?"**

**"Oh, that happens all the time. It's a simple fix. "**

"Not very pleasant though." A voice said.

They turned to see a very familiar satyr. "Grover?!" Percy exclaimed.

"In the flesh, man." He replied. They quickly embraced.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked delighted to see his best friend. He had missed Grover greatly. He was glad that he was here with them now.

"I was sent to read the books with you." Grover replied. "I got a message from Lady Hera herself." He handed them the note.

"We're reading about out first quest." Annabeth told him, and they caught him up with everything that was happening.

"We should probably introduce everyone." Reyna pointed out.

"Hey Reyna."

"Grover." The praetor nodded.

"This is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter." Annabeth introduced.

They shook hands. "Thalia's brother?" the satyr questioned.

"That would be me."

"And his girlfriend, Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite." The daughter of Athena gestured to the Cherokee girl. Then to the Latino boy. "Leo Valdez son of Hephaestus. Frank Zhang, son of Mars," she pointed to the Asian-Canadian. "And Hazel Levesque daughter of Pluto." Annabeth paused, "You already know Nico, and have met Reyna."

"Nice to see you guys again, Reyna, Nico." he gave them a small smile.

Nico nodded and Reyna returned a smile of her own.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce me cupcakes?"

"He already knows who you are coach." Percy told him.

"Yeah, but still."

"Hey Hedge, how are you?" The two shook hands.

"Good,"

They all started to reminisce with Grover when Reyna spoke. "I hate to interrupt your happy reunion, but we need to finish this chapter."

The others began to quiet down to let Reyna continue reading.

**He let go of my neck, but before I could react, he reached behind a nearby sales desk and brought out a huge double-bladed brass axe. He said, "I just center the subject as best I can and lop off whatever hangs over on either end. "**

** "Ah, " I said, swallowing hard. "Sensible. "**

** "I'm so glad to come across an intelligent customer!"**

They rolled their eyes at Procrustes's ignorance of what Percy was doing.

**The ropes were really stretching my friends now. Annabeth was turning pale. Grover made gurgling sounds, like a strangled goose.**

**"So, Crusty ... " I said, trying to keep my voice light. I glanced at the sales tag on the valentine-shaped Honeymoon Special. "Does this one really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"**

**"Absolutely. Try it out. "**

**"Yeah, maybe I will. But would it work even for a big guy like you? No waves at all?"**

**"Guaranteed. "**

**"No way. "**

**"Way. "**

**"Show me. "**

**He sat down eagerly on the bed, patted the mattress. "No waves. See?"**

**I snapped my fingers. "Ergo. "**

**Ropes lashed around Crusty and flattened him against the mattress.**

"Whoo!" They all cheered. Percy stood and began to mock-bow to all of them.

"Sit down you dork!" Annabeth told him trying to stifle her laughter.

Percy just grinned at her and reseated himself.

**"Hey!" he yelled. **

**"Center him just right, " I said.**

**The ropes readjusted themselves at my command. Crusty's whole head stuck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom.**

**"No!" he said. "Wait! This is just a demo. "**

**I uncapped Riptide. "A few simple adjustments ... "**

** I had no qualms about what I was about to do. If Crusty were human, I couldn't hurt him anyway. If he was a monster, he deserved to turn into dust for a while.**

They all agreed with the son of Poseidon on that.

**"You drive a hard bargain, " he told me. "I'll give you thirty percent off on selected floor models. '"**

**"I think I'll start with the top. " I raised my sword.**

**"No money down! No interest for six months!"**

**I swung the sword. Crusty stopped making offers.**

**I cut the ropes on the other beds. Annabeth and Grover got to their feet, groaning and wincing and cursing me a lot.**

** "You look taller, " I said.**

**"Very funny, " Annabeth said. "Be faster next time. "**

**I looked at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L. A. Area Monsters-"The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need!" Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. "We are always looking for new talent!" DOA's address was right underneath with a map. **

**"Come on, " I told my friends.**

**"Give us a minute, " Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death. '"**

**"Then you're ready for the Underworld, " I said. "It's only a block from here. "**

"That's the end of the chapter." Reyna told them. She glanced at Nico. "Would you like to read Nico?"

"Not particularly, but I will." Nico let out a sign and then began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story! I don't plan to ever! :D

YEA! Grover's here! Someone requested a Grover/Percy reunion, so I obliged since I also wanted one to happen. I hope you all enjoy this.

I added Coach Hedge as I typed this because it just came to me and made sense since he's a big part of the series.

Some people have told me that they'd like more characters to show up. So should they? And if so which characters would you like to join the readings?


	19. Chapter 19

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 19

They all read some more

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible.

Would you like any more characters to appear for the readings? If so which ones. They can be any on you want. dead or living, past or present. Gods, mortals, demigods, satyrs/fauns, etc.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Annabeth Does Obedience School**

Nico glared at the book. _Of course he had to get the chapter with Annabeth's name in the title. _

**We stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS. ****Underneath, stenciled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING. **

"Cheery place." Leo commented.

**It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.**

**I turned to my friends. "Okay. You remember the plan. "**

"You let Percy come up with the plan?" Frank asked, "Are you guys crazy?"

"HEY!" Percy said, shoving the son of Mars good-naturedly.

**"The plan, " Grover gulped. "Yeah. I love the plan. "**

**Annabeth said, "What happens if the plan doesn't work?"**

**"Don't think negative. "**

**"Right, " she said. "We're entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn't think negative. "**

"She does have a point." Grover said.

** I took the pearls out of my pocket, the three milky spheres the Nereid had given me in Santa Monica. They didn't seem like much of a backup in case something went wrong. **

** Annabeth put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Percy. You're right, we'll make it. It'll be fine. "**

** She gave Grover a nudge.**

**"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem. "**

**I looked at them both, and felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, I'd almost gotten them stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for my sake, trying to make me feel better. **

Annabeth and Grover both smiled at Percy.

** I slipped the pearls back in my pocket. "Let's whup some Underworld butt. "**

**We walked inside the DOA lobby.**

** Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel gray. Pencil cactuses grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or wait-ing for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see them all just fine, but if I focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking ... Transparent. I could see right through their bodies.**

"That's kind of creepy." Leo told them. He went back to his design.

Piper's eyebrows furrowed. "Leo, what are you drawing?"

"Nothing." the fire-user said quickly. He blocked the blueprints from their view.

"Obviously it's not nothing. If you're even bothering to hide it." Percy responded.

"It's doesn't matter okay?"

"Leo," Hazel said gently. "Are you sure that you're okay?"

He gave her a small smile. Hazel was the only one that knew for sure that he had landed on Calypso's island. He had been cornered by her after they had escaped the House of Hades. She had demanded to know what was wrong with him and everything had come spilling out.

Afterwards she marched out of the room and returned moments later with her sketchbook and colored pencils. She asked him to describe Calypso, and then proceeded to draw a picture of her for him. It looked remarkably like her. He still kept the picture with him at all times. "I'm fine, Hazel. Really, or at least... I will be."

Nico started to read once more.

**The security guard's desk was a raised podium, so we had to look up at him.**

**He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.**

**I read the name tag, then looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"**

Nico shook his head in exasperation. Charon hated being confused with Chiron.

** He leaned across the desk. I couldn't see anything in his glasses except my own reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold, like a pythons, right before it eats you.**

**"What a precious young lad." He had a strange accent-British, maybe, but also as if he had learned English as a second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"**

"I don't know, does he?" Leo asked.

"No." Annabeth told him.

**"N-no."**

**"Sir, " he added smoothly.**

**"Sir, " I said.**

**He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R- O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."**

** "Charon. "**

**"Amazing! Now: Mr. Charon."**

**"Mr. Charon," I said.**

** "Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"**

** His question caught in my stomach like a fastball. I looked at Annabeth for support.**

"Of course he did." Reyna smirked. "I said he'd be lost without you didn't I Annabeth?"

The daughter of Athena grinned in response. "You did say that."

**"We want to go the Underworld, " she said.**

**Charon's mouth twitched. "Well, that's refreshing. "**

"How is that refreshing?" Leo paused.

**"It is?" she asked. **

** "Straightforward and honest. No screaming. No 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon. '" He looked us over. "How did you die, then?"**

**I nudged Grover.**

**"Oh, " he said. "Um ... Drowned ... In the bathtub. "**

All of the demigods faced-palmed.

"Seriously kid?" Coach commented. "I could've come up with a better lie than that."

"I was under a lot of pressure!" Grover complained.

** "All three of you?" Charon asked. We nodded.**

**"Big bathtub. " Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... Alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries. "**

** "Oh, but we have coins. " I set three golden drachmas on the counter, part of the stash I'd found in Crusty's office desk.**

**"Well, now ... " Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in ... "**

** His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.**

**We were so close.**

"This is when Murphy's law kicks in isn't it?" Leo sighed.

"Yep." Percy told them.

**Then Charon looked at me. That cold stare behind his glasses seemed to bore a hole through my chest. "Here now, " he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"**

** "No, " I said. "I'm dead. "**

They all face palmed once more. "Seriously Percy?" Frank said.

Percy grumbled something unintelligible.

Jason just shook his head at his friend.

** Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling."**

**"We have to get to the Underworld, " I insisted.**

**Charon made a growling sound deep in his throat.**

**Immediately, all the people in the waiting room got up and started pacing, agitated, lighting cigarettes, running hands through their hair, or checking their wristwatches.**

**"Leave while you can, " Charon told us. "I'll just take these and forget I saw you."**

**He started to go for the coins, but I snatched them back.**

They all looked at Percy curiously wondering what he was doing.

** "No service, no tip. " I tried to sound braver than I felt.**

**Charon growled again-a deep, blood-chilling sound. The spirits of the dead started pounding on the elevator doors.**

**"It's a shame, too, " I sighed. "We had more to offer."**

Leo smirked. He knew exactly what the son of Poseidon was playing at.

**I held up the entire bag from Crusty's stash. I took out a fistful of drachmas and let the coins spill through my fingers. **

** Charon's growl changed into something more like a lion's purr. "Do you think I can be bought, godling? Eh ... Just out of curiosity, how much have you got there?"**

**"A lot, " I said. "I bet Hades doesn't pay you well enough for such hard work."**

They all nodded in approval at Percy's plan.

**"Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free. ' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"**

** "You deserve better, " I agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay. "**

**With each word, I stacked another gold coin on the counter.**

**Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say, lad, you're making some sense now. Just a little."**

Nico just shook his head at Charon's actions before continuing to read.

** I stacked another few coins. "I could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades. "**

** He sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you three and be off. "**

** He stood, scooped up our money, and said, "Come along. "**

** We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders. "**

Nico paused for a moment to catch his breath. Tartarus air was not beneficial for one's health.

** He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.**

**"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"**

**He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend. **

** "What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Nothing, " Charon said.**

They all glanced at each other warily.

**"For how long?"**

**"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."**

**"Oh, " she said. "That's ... Fair."**

**Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."**

**"We'll get out alive," I said.**

"I admire your confidence Percy." Leo said. He went back to adding even more stuff to his blueprints.

**"Ha. "**

** I got a sudden dizzy feeling. We weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. Spirits around me started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into gray hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying. **

** I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone. Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets-like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair. **

**He saw me looking, and said, "Well?"**

**"Nothing, " I managed.**

**I thought he was grinning, but that wasn't it. The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through to his skull.**

"How lovely." Frank said sarcastically.

**The floor kept swaying. **

** Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick. "**

"How do you even get seasick on an elevator?" Piper wondered.

Grover shrugged in response.

"I don't even want to know." Hazel said. She began feeling a bit queasy at the mention of seasickness.

** When I blinked again, the elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. We were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things- plastic dolls, crushed car-nations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.**

**"The River Styx, " Annabeth murmured. "It's so ..."**

**"Polluted, " Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across-hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."**

Nico nodded, somewhat agreeing with Charon.

** Mist curled off the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the color of poison. **

**Panic closed up my throat. What was I doing here? These people around me ... They were dead. **

** Annabeth grabbed hold of my hand. Under normal circumstances, this would've embarrassed me, but I under-stood how she felt. She wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on this boat. **

**I found myself muttering a prayer, though I wasn't quite sure who I was praying to. Down here, only one god mattered, and he was the one I had come to confront. **

"Well, that's just great." Reyna said as she rolled her eyes.

** The shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones-the howl of a large animal. **

"That would be Cerberus." Nico commented before he read on.

** "Old Three-Face is hungry, " Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings. "**

**The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark. A woman holding a little girl's hand. An old man and an old woman hobbling along arm in arm. A boy no older than I was, shuffling silently along in his gray robe. **

** Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."**

The demigods rolled their eyes at the last statement.

** He counted our golden coins into his pouch, then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the empty barge back across the river.**

**We followed the spirits up a well-worn path.**

**I'm not sure what I was expecting-Pearly Gates, or a big black portcullis, or something. But the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.**

"Really?" Frank said curiously.

"Really." Percy replied.

Annabeth nodded in affirmation.

**There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top. Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon. **

**The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but I couldn't see where it was coming from. The three-headed dog, Cerberus, who was supposed to guard Hades's door, was nowhere to be seen. **

**The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling. **

** "What do you figure?" I asked Annabeth.**

**"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them. "**

"It does." Hazel informed them.

** "There's a court for dead people?"**

"Yep." Nico said before he read some more.

** "Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare-people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward-the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."**

**"And do what?"**

**Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever. "**

"That's Harsh." Leo said.

**"Harsh, " I said.**

"Noooo!" Leo cried dramatically. "I've caught Percyitis!" Leo pretending to choke and gasp for breath.

They rolled their eyes at the son of Hephaestus.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling more like yourself Leo." Hazel smiled at her friend.

Leo just grinned in response.

**"Not as harsh as that, " Grover muttered. "Look. "**

**A couple of black-robbed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk. The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.**

**"He's that preacher who made the news, remember?" Grover asked.**

** "Oh, yeah. " I did remember now. We'd seen him on TV a couple of times at the Yancy Academy dorm. He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion, like gold-plated toilet seats, and an indoor putt-putt golf course.**

"What a jerk." Piper commented.

The others shared her sentiments.

**He'd died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff. **

** I said, "What're they doing to him?"**

** "Special punishment from Hades, " Grover guessed. "The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive. The Fur-the Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him. "**

"That can't be pleasant." Jason said, glancing at Nico.

Nico met his eyes. "It's not."

** The thought of the Furies made me shudder. I realized I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs. Dodds would be licking her lips with anticipation. **

** "But if he's a preacher, " I said, "and he believes in a different hell... . "**

**Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn-er, persistent, that way. "**

**We got closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from. **

**Then, about fifty feet in front of us, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster. **

"Cerberus?" Frank asked.

Nico nodded to confirm it.

**I hadn't seen it before because it was half transparent, like the dead. Until it moved, it blended with whatever was behind it. Only its eyes and teeth looked solid. And it was staring straight at me. **

** My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, "He's a Rottweiler."**

**I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff. But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth, mostly invisible, and had three heads.**

"Of course." Leo interjected.

** The dead walked right up to him-no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching.**

**"I'm starting to see him better," I muttered. "Why is that?"**

**"I think ... " Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."**

You'd be correct, Annabeth." Nico said civilly. He wasn't going to let his crush on Percy ruin anything for him.

They all looked surprised at Nico's change of heart.

"What?" Nico asked when he saw them all looking at him. "I can be nice."

"No one ever said you couldn't cupcake." Hedge told him patting him on the shoulder.

Nico just shrugged off his hand and went back to reading.

** The dog's middle head craned toward us. It sniffed the air and growled. **

** "It can smell the living," I said. **

** "But that's okay," Grover said, trembling next to me. "Because we have a plan."**

** "Right," Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice sound quite so small. "A plan."**

**We moved toward the monster.**

"Cerberus is not a monster." Nico said gritting his teeth.

The others looked at him confused as to why he would feel so strongly about that.

"I've spent a lot of time with Cerberus in the underworld." Nico told them. "I've kind of grown attached to him."

They all nodded and waited for Nico to continue reading.

**The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loud my eyeballs rattled. **

** "Can you understand it?" I asked Grover. **

** "Oh yeah," he said. "I can understand it."**

**"What's it saying?"**

**"I don't think humans have a four-letter word that translates, exactly."**

** I took the big stick out of my backpack-a bedpost I'd broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model. I held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts toward Cerberus-Alpo commercials, cute little pup-pies, fire hydrants. I tried to smile, like I wasn't about to die. **

"Good luck with that." Coach Hedge snorted.

** "Hey, Big Fella, " I called up. "I bet they don't play with you much. "**

"They don't." Nico informed them.

** "GROWWWLLLL!"**

** "Good boy, " I said weakly. **

** I waved the stick. The dog's middle head followed the movement. The other two heads trained their eyes on me, completely ignoring the spirits. I had Cerberus's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.**

"Neither do we Percy." Jason told him.

**"Fetch!" I threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. I heard it go ker-sploosh in the River Styx. **

** Cerberus glared at me, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold. **

**So much for the plan.**

**Cerberus was now making a new kind of growl, deeper down in his three throats.**

"That can't be good." Frank commented.

"Its not." Grover agreed.

** "Um, " Grover said. "Percy?"**

**"Yeah?"**

**"I just thought you'd want to know. "**

**"Yeah?"**

**"Cerberus? He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that... Well ... He's hungry. "**

"How wonderful." Leo said drily.

** "Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack. **

** Uh-oh, I thought. **

** "Five seconds, " Grover said. "Do we run now?"**

** Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It was labeled WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. Before I could stop her, she raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus. **

They looked at Annabeth curiously.

She just gestured for them to listen to the book.

** She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"**

**Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.**

**All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.**

** I was sure that any moment she would become the world's largest Milkbone dog biscuit. **

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Percy." Annabeth replied with heavy sarcasm.

** But instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires. **

** Annabeth said, "Good boy!"**

**She threw Cerberus the ball.**

**He caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.**

_"Poor Cerberus."_ Nico thought sadly. He wondered how he was doing with him gone. Nico usually played with Cerberus when he visited his dad down in the underworld and had grown quite attached to the three headed dog.

** "Drop it. '" Annabeth ordered.**

**Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet. **

** "Good boy. " She picked up the ball, ignoring the monster spit all over it. **

Nico shot Percy, Annabeth, and Grover a quick glare to let them know what he thought of them calling his dog a monster.

**She turned toward us. "Go now. EZ DEATH line-it's faster. "**

** I said, "But-"**

** "Now. '" She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog. **

** Grover and I inched forward warily.**

**Cerberus started to growl.**

**"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"**

Another glare at the three protagonists.

**Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was. **

**"What about you?" I asked Annabeth as we passed her.**

**"I know what I'm doing, Percy, " she muttered. "At least, I'm pretty sure... . "**

**Grover and I walked between the monster's legs.**

**Please, Annabeth, I prayed. Don't tell him to sit again.**

A few chuckles were heard at that sentence.

**We made it through. Cerberus wasn't any less scary-looking from the back. **

**Annabeth said, "Good dog!"**

**She held up the tattered red ball, and probably came to the same conclusion I did-if she rewarded Cerberus, there'd be nothing left for another trick.**

** She threw the ball anyway. The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.**

**While the monster was distracted, Annabeth walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.**

Cue another glare a the trio.

"Okay, we get it already." Annabeth said.

"We don't think that anymore Nico." Percy told him.

"Good." Nico said stiffly before her continued reading.

**How did you do that?" I asked her, amazed. **

** "Obedience school, " she said breathlessly, and I was surprised to see there were tears in her eyes. "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman... . "**

**"Never mind that, " Grover said, tugging at my shirt. "Come on!"**

**We were about to bolt through the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth stopped.**

** She turned to face the dog, which had done a one-eighty to look at us.**

**Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.**

"Poor Cerberus." Hazel said sadly. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

**"Good boy, " Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.**

**The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her.**

**"I'll bring you another ball soon, " Annabeth promised faintly. "Would you like that?"**

** The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball. **

"AWE!" Piper and Reyna said sympathetically.

They both glanced at each other before quickly looking away.

Nico began reading once more.

**"Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I-I promise. " Annabeth turned to us. "Let's go. "**

** Grover and I pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"**

** Cerberus started to bark. **

** We burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.**

**A few minutes later, we were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.**

"Oh joy!" Leo said with fake enthusiasm.

** Grover murmured, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"**

**"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?"**

**"No, " Grover told me. "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"**

** I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody-even monsters-needed a little attention once in a while. **

Nico smiled as he read the last three sentences.

"OH MY GODS!" Leo exclaimed suddenly.

The rest of them jumped.

"What the heck Leo?!" Percy said, putting a hand over his chest, where his heart was. "Are you trying to scare us to death?"

"What was that all about anyway?" Jason asked.

Leo cleared his throat and stated in a very serious tone. "Let it be known that on this day and this hour and this minute. Nico Di Angelo smiled for the first time known to demigods, gods, monsters and mankind.

Nico raised an eyebrow. Reyna burst out laughing and the others joined in. Even Nico laughed some.

"Alright settle down Cupcakes. Let's continue with the chapter." Hedge said. "We have eleven more books to read after this one."

They all calmed down and Nico began to read again.

** I thought about that as we waited for the ghouls to pass. I pretended not to see Annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend. **

"AWE!" The girls cooed. "Poor Cerberus!"

"Well that's the end of the chapter." Nico announced he handed the book to Grover to read.

Grover cleared his throat and began the next chapter.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story! I don't plan to ever! :D

Some people have told me that they'd like more characters to show up. So should they? And if so which characters would you like to join the readings?

I've had people Suggest Grover (who as you can see I've added in), Rachel, and Bianca , who will be coming soon. It might not be in this book though. I might wait until I begin the Sea of Monsters to add her in.


	20. Chapter 20

Honesty is the Best Policy

Chapter 20

Grover's turn

Author's notes: I don't own anything in Bold. Everything in Bold belongs to Rick Riordan.

If you see any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them as soon as possible.

Would you like any more characters to appear for the readings? If so which ones. They can be any on you want. dead or living, past or present. Gods, mortals, demigods, satyrs/fauns, etc.

* * *

**Chapter 19: We Find Out The Truth,**** Sort Of**

How do you sort of find out the truth?" Leo wondered.

"You'll find out soon enough." Annabeth told them.

** Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.**

**Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start. **

"What does this have to do with anything?" Frank wondered.

"You'll see." Percy replied.

** If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees-Grover told me they were poplars-grew in clumps here and there. **

**The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed. I tried not to imagine they'd fall on us at any moment, but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass. I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets. **

They don't." Nico told them.

**Annabeth, Grover, and I tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. I couldn't help look-ing for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at.**

"How are they hard to look at?" Piper asked.

**Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away. **

"Oh." the daughter of Aphrodite responded.

**The dead aren't scary. They're just sad. **

"It's true." Hazel said.

Nico nodded sadly in affirmation.

** We crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black- tented pavilion with a banner that read:**

**JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION**

**Welcome, Newly Deceased!**

"How wonderful!" Leo remarked drily.

**Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.**

** To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas.**

**Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. And I saw worse tortures, too-things I don't want to describe. **

They all cringed at the descriptions.

"I really don't envy you mortals." Coach Hedge said.

Grover nodded in agreement. When satyrs died they were reincarnated; But humans weren't that lucky.

**The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls-a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld.**

"There's a happy part of the underworld?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, Elysium." Hazel reminded him.

"Oh, right."

**Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking. **

"Sounds wonderful." Annabeth said.

The others nodded in agreement.

Grover continued to read.

** Elysium.**

**In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died. **

"Really?" Frank asked him curiously.

"Only if Annabeth was with me." He told them.

Annabeth smiled at the gesture.

** "That's what it's all about, " Annabeth said, like she was reading my thoughts. "That's the place for heroes. "**

**But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing. **

"It really is." Nico sighed sadly.

**We left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin. **

** After a few miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us. **

"They probably were." Grover agreed, before he returned to reading.

** "I suppose it's too late to turn back, " Grover said wistfully. **

"Probably." Leo commented.

**"We'll be okay. " I tried to sound confident. **

**"Maybe we should search some of the other places first, " Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance ... "**

** "Come on, goat boy. " Annabeth grabbed his arm. **

**Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back in the grass. **

They raised their eyebrows. What was going on?

** "Grover, " Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around. "**

** "But I didn't-"**

** He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us. **

Reyna's eyes widened. "The gifts."

"What?" Jason asked.

"The gifts." She repeated, "The water spirit warned them not to trust the gifts. Luke gave them the flying shoes."

"They were a gift from Luke." Piper caught on. "Luke must have somehow cursed the shoes."

The others looked alarmed at this.

"Is that true?" Frank asked worried for their friends.

The two demigods nodded in agreement.

Before anyone else could speak Grover started to read again.

**"Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"**

** I got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled. **

** We ran after him.**

**Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"**

**It was a smart idea, but I guess it's not so easy when your shoes are pulling you along feetfirst at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.**

Hazel looked worried at this part. After all she had a soft spot in her heart for fauns and satyrs.

**We kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he ripped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance. **

** I was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction. **

Jason winced, "That doesn't sound good."

The others had to agree with the son of Jupiter.

** The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. Annabeth and I had to sprint to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.**

**"Grover!" I yelled, my voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"**

**"What?" he yelled back.**

**He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.**

The demigods all looked on the verge of panic , with the exception of Percy and Annabeth, who knew for a fact that Grover was okay.

**The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about-blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer. **

Nico's eyes widened. 'No, it couldn't be... could it?'

** Then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped dead in my tracks. **

** The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block. **

** Grover was sliding straight toward the edge. **

Nico's sense of dread began to get stronger.

** "Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at my wrist.**

**"But that's-"**

** "I know!" she shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him. " She was right, of course. Grover's predicament got me moving again. **

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Coach said looked slightly worried.

"Sorry Coach." Annabeth replied.

Nico's worst fears seemed to be confirmed. The shoes were dragging Grover into Tartarus.

**He was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like we could possibly get to him in time.**

**What saved him were his hooves.**

**The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor. **

"Thank the gods." Piper said letting out a breath.

Reyna had to agree with the daughter of Aphrodite.

**He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.**

**We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead. Even my backpack seemed heavier, as if somebody had filled it with rocks. **

** Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified. **

"Were you okay kid?" Coach asked the young satyr concerned for his well-being.

"Yeah, I'm fine Hedge." Grover assured him before he continued.

** "I don't know how ... " he panted. "I didn't... "**

** "Wait, " I said. "Listen. "**

**I heard something-a deep whisper in the darkness.**

"Run now." Nico ordered them.

"Why what's going on?" Jason asked worriedly.

"Something very unpleasant." Was all the son of Hades said.

**Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place-"**

**"Shh. " I stood.**

**The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming from the pit.**

**Grover sat up. "Wh-what's that noise?"**

**Annabeth heard it too, now. I could see it in her eyes. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus. " I uncapped Anaklusmos. **

The demigods all tensed.

** The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant. **

** I could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older even than Greek. As if ... **

**"Magic, " I said.**

**"We have to get out of here, " Annabeth said.**

"No duh!" Said Leo, but he too looked worried.

** Together, we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough. My backpack weighed me down. The voice got louder and angrier behind us, and we broke into a run.**

**Not a moment too soon. **

**A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, I lost ground, my feet slipping in the gravel. If we'd been any closer to the edge, we would've been sucked in. **

Their expressions darkened as they remembered how Percy and Annabeth had fallen into to Tartarus not that long ago.

**We kept struggling forward, and finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy we'd gotten away. **

"NO really, what gave you that impression?" Leo said trying to lift the atmosphere.

"Leo, please shut up." Piper snapped.

The son of Hephaestus looked hurt but he quickly covered it up.

"What the hell is your problem?" Reyna demanded. "He was just trying to help lighten the mood!"

Reyna had no idea why she had all of a sudden felt protective of the fire-user. Maybe it was her maternal instincts kicking in. She had felt very protective over Nico ever since they had started their journey back to camp with Hedge.

"I second that." Nico said shooting a glare at Love's daughter.

Nico had always felt like he could relate to Leo. They both were the outcasts. They felt like they could never belong, not to mention they had both lost their mothers because of the gods.

They all looked taken aback by Nico and Reyna's reactions.

Grover quickly began to read before another fight could break out.

**"What was that?" Grover panted, when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"**

"No." Hazel said shakily.

** Annabeth and I looked at each other. I could tell she was nursing an idea, probably the same one she'd gotten during the taxi ride to L. A. , but she was too scared to share it. That was enough to terrify me. **

"Me too." Leo agreed quietly.

** I capped my sword, put the pen back in my pocket. "Let's keep going. " I looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"**

**He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway. "**

**He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly.**

They shot the satyr sympathetic looks.

**as Annabeth and I were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. Even Echidna hadn't given me that feeling. I was almost relieved to turn my back on that tunnel and head toward the palace of Hades. **

** Almost.**

**The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.**

"Wonderful the bat women are back." Leo commented sarcastically.

Reyna and Nico looked at Leo surprised. He sure bounced back fast.

Or it was all an act. The studied him closely; while Grover continued to read.

**Up close, I saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times- an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls-but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true. **

"Could be." Frank mused.

**Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues- petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs-all smiling grotesquely.**

They all shuddered at the mental image.

** In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone, " Annabeth said. "Keep walking. "**

** I understood why she wanted to move on. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. I had a sudden desire to eat them, but then I remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave. I pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one. **

Nico was glad that the pomegranates didn't affect him, being a child of the underworld.

** We walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. I guess they never had to worry about rain down here. **

They snorted at Percy's thought(s).

** Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in mili-tary gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of them bothered us, but their hollow eye sockets followed us as we walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end. **

"Creepy," Leo said once again.

** Two U. S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests. **

**"You know, " Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen. "**

They all laughed lightly at Grover's comment.

**My backpack weighed a ton now. I couldn't figure out why. I wanted to open it, check to see if I had somehow picked up a stray bowling ball, but this wasn't the time. **

"Actually, I think now is a perfect time." Leo interjected.

They rolled their eyes at his comment.

** "Well, guys, " I said. "I suppose we should ... Knock?"**

** A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside. **

** "I guess that means entrez-vous, " Annabeth said. **

"What does that mean?" Jason asked looking to Piper.

"It means Come in." Piper said.

"You speak French?" Hazel and Frank asked at the same time. They both blushed.

"Yes, all children of Aphrodite and Venus can because it's the language of love." Piper explained.

Grover went back to the book.

**The room inside looked just like in my dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied. **

**He was the third god I'd met, but the first who really struck me as godlike. **

"Wait the third?" Jason said confused. "There was Ares and Hades right; so who was the other one?"

Percy thought about it for a minute. "I can't remember right now."

"That's because there wasn't one Seaweed Brain. It must be a typo in the book." Annabeth told them. "Unless... They mean Zeus which you meet later, or they could mean Poseidon..."

"We can debate that later Annabeth." Piper told her. "Right now we need to finish this book."

The daughter of Athena nodded, still thinking about it.

** He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther. **

** I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master. Then I told myself to snap out of it. **

** Hades's aura was affecting me, just as Ares's had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma. **

"That's because they're all children of Hades/Pluto." Nico told him.

"Seriously?" Percy asked.

Nico nodded.

**"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon, " he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish. "**

**Numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and just take a little nap at Hades's feet. Curl up here and sleep forever. **

** I fought the feeling and stepped forward. I knew what I had to say. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."**

"Dad won't appreciate that, especially since he thinks you stole his helm of darkness." Nico replied.

"What?!" The others exclaimed in surprise

"Oh... Sorry I forgot you guys didn't know. Spoilers. "

** Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What hor-rible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear?**

They all snorted and burst out into fits of laughter. By the end they were all gasping for breath, tears leaking out of the corners of their eyes, and holding their stomachs which were aching.

** "Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet. "**

**I swallowed. This was going about as well as I'd feared. **

** I glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. I wished Queen Persephone were here. I recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the planet, create the seasons. **

"I never would have guessed." Leo remarked. He was not adding another blueprint to his earlier work.

**Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back. **

** "Lord Hades, " I said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... Bad. "**

** "Really bad, " Grover added helpfully. **

** "Return Zeus's master bolt to me, " I said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus. "**

"It's at these parts of the book, where I really wonder how you have survived so long with all of the gods you've angered." Jason told him.

"Me too Jason. Me too." Percy agreed.

**Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"**

**I glanced back at my friends. They looked as confused as I was.**

**"Um ... Uncle, " I said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done. ' What exactly have I done?"**

"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Percy informed them. "Well, at least I haven't done what they're accusing me of doing."

** The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they proably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits. **

**Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"**

**I wanted to say, Well, these guys don't look like peace activists. But I thought that might be a dangerous answer.**

"It would have been." Nico replied.

** "You are the Lord of the Dead, " I said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"**

** "A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"**

** "Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"**

**I opened my mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.**

"Of course."

** "More security ghouls, " he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"**

"Oh no!" Leo cried, "Not the expenses!"

** "Charon wants a pay raise, " I blurted, just remembering the fact. As soon as I said it, I wished I could sew up my mouth. **

** "Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war. "**

"He really didn't." Nico agreed.

** "But you took Zeus's master bolt. "**

They all face palmed.

"Seriously?" Coach Hedge asked.

"What is it Pick-on-Percy-day?" The Son of Poseidon complained.

**"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan. "**

** "His plan?"**

** "You were the thief on the winter solstice, " he said. "Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus, You took the master bolt and my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"**

"Whoa, whoa wait. Back it up here a little." Frank said, "Hades is missing his helm of darkness?"

"We were just as surprised to learn that as well." Grover told them. He then turned back to the book.

** "But ... " Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, your helm of darkness is missing, too?"**

**"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero-coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt-to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"**

"Like my dad would ever do that." Percy scoffed.

** "I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance, " Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you. "**

"Didn't try to stop us?" Grover looked at the book incredulously. "He sent all three kindly ones after us!"

"Just continue reading kid." Hedge responded.

Grover complied.

** "You didn't try to stop us? But-"**

"Exactly my thoughts Percy." Grover commented before continuing to read.

** "Return my helm now, or I will stop death, " Hades threatened. "That is my counterproposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson-your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades. "**

"Creepy." Leo said once again.

** The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready. **

** At that point, I probably should have been terrified. The strange thing was, I felt offended. Nothing gets me angrier than being accused of something I didn't do. I've had a lot of experience with that. **

"Join the club." Jason grunted.

** "You're as bad as Zeus, " I said. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"**

"No, he sent them after you to invite you to a party, Percy." Leo said sarcastically.

** "Of course, " Hades said. **

** "And the other monsters?"**

**Hades curled his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you-I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"**

"Easily?" Frank raised an eyebrow. "If that was entering the underworld easily. I'd hate to see the hard way."

The others nodded in agreement.

** "Easily?"**

** "Return my property!"**

** "But I don't have your helm. I came for the master bolt. "**

**"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could you threaten me!"**

The demigods and satyrs looked confused at this point; with the exception of Percy, Annabeth, and Grover.

**"But I didn't!"**

**"Open your pack, then. "**

** A horrible feeling struck me. The weight in my back-pack, like a bowling ball. It couldn't be... **

"It is, isn't it?" Nico groaned.

"Unfortunately, yes." Percy said.

Grover returned to reading.

**I slung it off my shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, hum-ming with energy.**

** "Percy, " Annabeth said. "How-"**

** "I-I don't know. I don't understand. "**

"That's okay." Piper commented, "Neither do we."

**"You heroes are always the same, " Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... My helm. Where is it?"**

"Who knows?" Leo said absently.

"Ares." The son of Poseidon said.

"That was a rhetorical question, Seaweed Brain."

"Oh."

**I was speechless. I had no helm. I had no idea how the master bolt had gotten into my backpack. I wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy. But suddenly the world turned sideways. I realized I'd been played with. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been set at each other's throats by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and I'd gotten the backpack from ... **

"My Dad." Frank groaned. "Great, just great."

"Yep, and now you know why I hate him so much."

** "Lord Hades, wait, " I said. "This is all a mistake. "**

** "A mistake?" Hades roared. **

"What is he part lion or something?" Leo asked.

** The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds's face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip. **

** "There is no mistake, " Hades said. "I know why you have come-I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her. "**

** Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, and there was my mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death. **

"That must've been hard for you to see." Hazel said sympathetically.

Percy gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, it was."

** I couldn't speak. I reached out to touch her, but the light was as hot as a bonfire. **

** "Yes, " Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change. "**

"Well, that's harsh." Leo said.

**I thought about the pearls in my pocket. Maybe they could get me out of this. If I could just get my mom free ... **

** "Ah, the pearls, " Hades said, and my blood froze. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson. "**

** My hand moved against my will and brought out the pearls. **

"I hate it when stuff like that happens." Percy said.

** "Only three, " Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms. "**

** I looked at Annabeth and Grover. Their faces were grim. **

Just like they were right now.

**"We were tricked, " I told them. "Set up. "**

**"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit-"**

** "I don't know yet, " I said. "But I intend to ask. "**

** "Decide, boy!" Hades yelled. **

"Stop pressuring him." Reyna glared at the book as if it was it's fault.  
**  
"Percy. " Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt, "**

**"I know that. "**

**"Leave me here, " he said. "Use the third pearl on your mom. "**

**"No!"**

**"I'm a satyr, " Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way. "**

They all looked horrified at the thought of any of them being left at the mercy of the lord of the dead; Even Hazel and Nico.

** "No. " Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting. "**

** "No way, " Grover said. "I'm staying behind. "**

**"Think again, goat boy, " Annabeth said. **

"So you're both arguing about who gets to stay behind and get tortured by Hades?" Leo asked gesturing to the daughter of Athena and the lord of the wild.

The two of them nodded together.

"Well, okay then." The fire-user went back to fiddling with some contraption he was working on.

** "Stop it, both of you!" I felt like my heart was being ripped in two. They had both been with me through so much. I remembered Grover dive-bombing Medusa in the statue garden, and Annabeth saving us from Cerberus; we'd survived Hephaestus's Waterland ride, the St. Louis Arch, the Lotus Casino. I had spent thousands of miles worried that I'd be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that. They had done nothing but save me, over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for my mom.**

Annabeth and Grover smiled at Percy. He returned the smile. He loved his friends.

**"I know what to do, " I said. "Take these. "**

** I handed them each a pearl. **

** Annabeth said, "But, Percy ... "**

"Fatal flaw once again."

** I turned and faced my mother. I desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and use the last pearl on her, but I knew what she would say. She would never allow it. I had to get the bolt back to Olympus and tell Zeus the truth. I had to stop the war. She would never forgive me if I saved her instead. I thought about the prophecy made at Half-Blood Hill, what seemed like a million years ago. You will fail to save what matters most in the end. **

They all gave Percy sad looks.

** "I'm sorry, " I told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way. "**

** The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, "Godling ... ?"**

** "I'll find your helm, Uncle, " I told him. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise. "**

"You seriously mentioned that again?" Jason looked at him like he was insane.

"Yep." Percy told him with a smile.

**"Do not defy me-"**

**"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls. "**

"I play with Cerberus whenever I go to visit Dad." Nico spoke up.

"You do?" Percy said surprised.

"Yeah and he really misses you Annabeth." Nico told her. "I could take you to come visit him sometime if you want."

Annabeth gave him a small smile. "I'd like that."

** "Percy Jackson, you will not-"**

** I shouted, "Now, guys!"**

** We smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened. **

** Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"**

** The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame. **

**Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments at my feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.**

They all looked relieved at this moment in the book.

**Annabeth and Grover were right behind me. Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and I knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L. A. **

"That's for sure. " Nico said.

** "Look up. '" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"**

** Sure enough, we were racing right toward the stalactites, which I figured would pop our bubbles and skewer us. **

** "How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted. **

** "I don't think you do!" I shouted back.**

"Fantastic!" The son of Hephaestus remarked.

** We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.**

**Were we dead?**

**No, I could still feel the racing sensation. We were going up, right through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. That was the power of the pearls, I realized-What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea. **

** For a few moments, I couldn't see anything outside the smooth walls of my sphere, then my pearl broke through on the ocean floor. The two other milky spheres, Annabeth and Grover, kept pace with me as we soared upward through the water. And-ker-blam!**

They all looked tense wondering what had happened to their friends.

**We exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"**

They cracked smiles at this despite the seriousness of the situation.

** I grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy. I caught Annabeth and dragged her over too. A curious shark was circling us, a great white about eleven feet long. **

** I said, "Beat it. "**

** The shark turned and raced away. **

**The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could. **

They all burst out laughing at this point.

** Somehow, I knew what time it was: early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice. **

** In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after me right now. **

** But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.**

**I had to get to shore. I had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus. Most of all, I had to have a serious conversation with the god who'd tricked me.**

Grover looked up from the book. "That's the end of the chapter. Who's going to read the next chapter?"

"I'll take it from here kid." Coach Hedge told him. He grabbed the book and began to read.

* * *

Author's notes: Don't worry I am not giving up on this story! I don't plan to ever! :D

Some people have told me that they'd like more characters to show up. So should they? And if so which characters would you like to join the readings?

I've had people Suggest Grover (who as you can see I've added in) and Thalia, Bianca, Chiron and Rachel, who will be coming soon. It might not be in this book though. I might wait until I begin the Sea of Monsters to add them in.

I think I'll add Chiron and Thalia in the Sea of Monsters. And Rachel and Bianca in The Titan's Curse.


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